Barium Oxide (BaO) Properties (25 Facts You Should Know)

Barium oxide is also called “Baria.” Let us focus on the properties of barium oxide.

Barium oxide is a non-flammable compound. When it comes in contact with the environment absorbs water. Large quantities of barium oxide result in irritation, and excessive quantity may cause death. It is produced by the process of thermal decomposition of barium nitrate. 

Barium oxide is used as a catalyst in many reactions. Let us predict the IUPAC name, CAS number, ChemSpider ID, and more such facts in this article.

Barium oxide IUPAC name

IUPAC name of Barium oxide is barium, monoxide, or Oxo barium. 

Barium oxide chemical formula

Barium oxide has the chemical formula BaO. This Barium contains 2 electrons and oxygen 6 electrons. Barium donates two electrons to oxygen and gains Ba2+ and oxygen O2- state.

Barium oxide CAS number

The CAS number for barium oxide is predicted as 1304-28-5.

Barium oxide ChemSpider ID

ChemSpider ID for barium oxide is 56180.

Barium oxide chemical classification

  • Barium oxide is an ionic compound.
  • Barium oxide is a combination of Barium, a metal cation, and oxygen, a non-metal anion forming a metal oxide.
  • Barium oxide can be written as below.
barium oxide now webp
Structure Of Barium oxide

Barium oxide molar mass

The molar mass of barium oxide is found to be 153.33g/mol.

Barium oxide colour

The colour of Barium oxide varies from white to yellow.

Barium oxide molar density

The molar density of Barium oxide is 5.72 g/cm3.

Barium oxide melting point

The melting point of Barium oxide was observed at 19230C (34930 F, 2196 K).

Barium oxide boiling point

Barium oxide boil at ~ 20000C (36300 F, 2270 K).

Barium oxide state at room temperature

Barium oxide occurs solid at room temperature.

Barium oxide ionic bond

Bond in barium oxide is found to be ionic where the transfer of electrons takes place from Barium to oxygen.

Barium oxide ionic radius

In Barium oxide, the ionic radius of Ba2+ is 1.34 A0 and the ionic radius of O2- is 1.32 A0.

Barium oxide electron configurations

Electrons are arranged in a particular shell around the nucleus; this is called an electronic configuration. Let us take a look at the electronic configuration of barium oxide.

The electron configuration of Barium and Oxygen in Barium oxide is given below.

Ba → [Xe] 6s2

O → 1s2 2s2 2p4

Barium oxide oxidation state

Barium oxide shows a +2 oxidation state for Barium and a -2 oxidation state for oxygen.

Barium oxide acidity/alkaline

Barium oxide is alkaline in nature. As we know, Barium is a metal when it reacts with water, giving basic oxide.

Is barium oxide odorless?

Barium oxide is found as an odorless powder.

Is barium oxide paramagnetic?

The presence of unpaired electron shows the paramagnetic property and paired electron shows diamagnetism. Let us see whether BaO is paramagnetic or diamagnetic.

Barium oxide is diamagnetic in nature as it contains O2- which does not have unpaired electrons.

Barium oxide hydrates

Barium oxide reacts with water and gives barium hydroxide, which is also called barium oxide hydrates. 

BaO+H2O → Ba ( OH2 )

Barium oxide crystal structure

The crystal structure of Barium oxide is predicted as cubic CF8.

Crystal familyCentering typeAtom in conventional unit cell
cubicall faces centerednumber
cF8
Table representing crystal structure of Barium oxide

Barium oxide polarity and conductivity

  • Barium oxide is a polar molecule. The bond polarity value for barium oxide is 2.5, which is calculated by the electronegativity difference between atoms.
  • Barium oxide shows a conductivity value of 10-4 mho/cm at 10000 K in white crystals, and blue crystals show a value of 1 mho/cm at about 9000 K.

Barium oxide reaction with acid

Barium oxide reacts with sulphuric acid to give barium sulfate and water as a product. Barium oxide reacts with hydrochloric acid to give barium chloride.

BaO(s) + H2SO4 (l) → BaSO4 (s) +H2O (l)

BaO + 2HCl (dilute) → BaCl2 +H2O

Barium oxide reaction with base

Barium oxide do not react with base as it is a basic metal oxide.

Barium oxide reaction with oxide

The reaction between carbon dioxide and barium oxide gives barium carbonate.

CO2 + BaO → BaCO3

Barium oxide reaction with the metal

The reaction between barium oxide and metal like aluminum gives elemental Barium solid aluminum oxide as the product. This reaction takes place at high temperatures.

BaO (s) + Al (s) → Ba (s) + Al2O3 (s).    

Conclusion

Barium oxide is used in fuels. Optical crown glass can be produced from barium oxide. It is used in coating hot cathodes. It plays an important role in isomer separation.