First we must write out the equation then balance it. When we balance the equation, the coefficient that represents potassium chloride will be the number of the moles it has.
Solid potassium chlorate decomposes to produce solid potassium chloride and oxygen gas.
1KClO3 → 1KCl + 1O2
To balance the equation, we must make sure each element has the same amount of atoms on both sides of the equation. We can see that there is 3 oxygen in KClO3 (potassium chlorate) and 2 oxygen in O2 (oxygen gas). We multiply potassium chlorate by 2 and oxygen gas by 3 giving us:
2KClO3 → 1KCl + 3O2
Now we have 2 moles of potassium chlorate and 3 moles of oxygen gas. The KCl (potassium chloride) is now unbalanced. Since there is 2 moles of potassium chlorate there will also be 2 moles in KCl, so we multiply KCl by 2 giving us:
2KClO3 → 2KCl + 3O2
Remember the coefficient that is next to compound in the equation represents the amount of moles.
The answer is 2 moles of potassium chloride.
