| Reactions of Barium |
Reactions with water |
| Barium reacts readily with water to form barium hydroxide and hydrogen gas. |
Ba(s) + 2H2O(g) Ba(OH)2(aq) + H2(g) |
Reactions with air |
| Barium metal is covered with a thin layer of oxide that helps protect the metal from attack by air, but to a lesser extent than the corresponding layer in magnesium. Once ignited, barium metal burns in air to give a mixture of white barium oxide and barium nitride. |
2Ba(s) + O2(g) 2BaO(s) |
Ba(s) + O2(g) BaO2(s) |
3Ba(s) + N2(g) Ba3N2(s) |
| Reduction Potentials | |
| Balanced half-reaction | E0 / V |
Ba2+ + 2e- Ba(s) |
-2.906 |
BaO + 2H+ + 2e- Ba(s) + H2O
|
-2.166 |