Write a balanced equation describing each of the following chemical reactions. (a) Solid potassium chlorate, KClO3, decomposes to form solid potassium chloride and diatomic oxygen gas.

2KClO₃  →  2KCl  +  3O₂

Explanation:

We identify the compounds for this reactions, reactants and products:

KClO₃ , KCl and O₂

Potassium chlorate can be dissociated as this:

KClO₃  → K⁺ + ClO₃⁻

and potassium chloride can be dissociated as this:

KCl → K⁺ + Cl⁻

In order to balance, we add a 2 in the chlorate and 2 in the chloride, but we unbalance the oxygen.

In chlorate we have 6 oxygen, so we must add a 3, in the product side:

2KClO₃  →  2KCl  +  3O₂