Such an occurrence is referred to as the reaction . Cl immediately acquires the electron lost by Na to form the ions. The ionization process is depicted by the thinner arrows. The NaCl reaction has been over-simplified to display how one species reacts with another to form only one product. The NaCl equation must be balanced because Cl is a diatomic element .
Diatomic elements are atoms which naturally exist as covalently bound pairs.
These two atoms are more stable bound to each other rather than existing independently. These elements exist as pairs and affect stoichiometry of an equation differently than their lone atoms. Cl and Cl 2 represent different species and quantities of chlorine. The former is the atom while the latter is the molecule composed of two atoms. Recognize the difference between the balanced and simplified versions of the reactions.