How would we represent the reaction between hydrochloric acid and aluminum hydroxide?

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Answer 1 · 2016-09-22T15:15:57

We need the stoichiometric equation:

#Al(OH)_3(s) + 3HCl(aq) rarr AlCl_3(aq) + 3H_2O(l)#

Perhaps more realistically, we could write:

#Al_2O_3(s) + 6HCl(aq) rarr 2Al^(3+) + 3H_2O(l)#

In each equation the stoichiometry is identical: 1 equiv aluminum reacts with 3 equiv hydrochloric acid.

#"Moles of aluminum"# #=# #(0.80*g)/(78.00*g*mol^-1)# #=# #1.0xx10^-2*mol#.

And thus we need 3 equiv of the given acid:

#=# #(3xx1.0xx10^-2*cancel(mol))/(6.0*cancel(mol)*cancel(L^-1))xx10^3*mL*cancel(L^-1)# #~=# #5*mL#