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How to Balance Magnesium chloride + Water → Magnesium hydroxide + Hydrochloric acid |
How to Balance: Mg(OH)2 + HCl → MgCl2 + H2O
Type of Chemical Reaction: This is a neutralization reaction.
Word Equation: Magnesium chloride + Water → Magnesium hydroxide + Hydrochloric acid
| Balancing Strategies: This is a neutralization reaction, and can also called a double displacement reaction. It's neutralization because we have a base, the magnesium hydroxide, added to an acid, HCl. The products are a salt (MgCl2) and and water.
We can say it's double displacement because the Mg and the H essentially switch places. To balance a reaction I recommend changing the coefficient in front of the H2O to get an even number of oxygen atoms. That should get you started. For a complete explanation, watch:
About Balancing Chemical EquationsWhen balancing chemical equations our goal is to have the same number of each type of atom on both sides of the equation.Only change the coefficients (these are the numbers in front substances).
 Never change the subscripts (the small numbers after elements).
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