Question

How do you write the formula for barium chloride?

Answer 1

Hint To answer this question it is very important to understand the main use of writing a chemical formula and the concept of valency. Without writing the chemical formula of a compound, chemistry would not be easy to study.

Complete step by step answer:
The symbolic representation of the composition of the chemical compound is known as chemical formula. A chemical formula gives us information about the number of particular elements and helps us exactly figure out the kind of element present in what proportion, etc. in the compound.
-It is very important to know about valence electrons and valencies .
Valence electrons are the electrons present in the outermost shell of an atom. The valence electrons can easily react with the electrons in the outermost shell of another atom. The valency is the capacity of an atom to make bonds. Capacity to make bonds depends on the number of valence electrons.
-Let's assume there are two elements X and Y , let its valency be 1 and 2 respectively:

Then, the chemical formula be ${{X}_{2}}{{Y}_{1}}$.
-Now let's write the chemical formula of barium chloride:
The valency of barium and chloride are 2 and 1 respectively.
So,

Thus, the chemical formula is $BaC{{l}_{2}}$.

Note: To write chemical formulas, it is very important to know the valency of the elements. The symbolic representation of the composition of the chemical compound is known as chemical formula. The 2 and 1 in ${{X}_{2}}{{Y}_{1}}$ are known as subscripts. The X and Y in ${{X}_{2}}{{Y}_{1}}$ are known as the chemical symbols.