Barium chloride is the inorganic compound

Inorganic compound

Inorganic compounds have traditionally been considered to be of inanimate, non-biological origin. In contrast, organic compounds have an explicit biological origin. However, over the past century, the classification of inorganic vs organic compounds has become less important to scientists,...

 with the formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 Ba

Barium

Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Barium is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts with...

Cl

Chlorine

Chlorine is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is the second lightest halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17. The element forms diatomic molecules under standard conditions, called dichlorine...

₂. It is one of the most common water-soluble salts of barium

Barium

Barium is a chemical element with the symbol Ba and atomic number 56. It is the fifth element in Group 2, a soft silvery metallic alkaline earth metal. Barium is never found in nature in its pure form due to its reactivity with air. Its oxide is historically known as baryta but it reacts with...

. Like other barium salts, it is toxic and imparts a yellow-green coloration to a flame. It is also hygroscopic.
BaCl₂ crystallizes in two forms (polymorph

Polymorph

-Science:* Polymorphonuclear leukocyte or granulocyte, a type of white blood cell* Polymorph, a trade name for the low melting-temperature polymer, Polycaprolactone * Dreissena polymorpha, the species commonly known as the Zebra mussel...

s). One form resembles fluorite

Fluorite

Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon...

 and the other lead chloride

Lead(II) chloride

Lead chloride is an inorganic compound which is a white solid under ambient conditions. It is poorly soluble in water. Lead chloride is one of the most important lead-based reagents...

 motifs. Both polymorphs accommodate the preference of the large Ba²⁺ ion for coordination numbers greater than six.

In aqueous solution BaCl₂ behaves as a simple salt

Salt

In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...

; in water it is a 1:2 electrolyte and the solution exhibits a neutral pH

PH

In chemistry, pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution. Pure water is said to be neutral, with a pH close to 7.0 at . Solutions with a pH less than 7 are said to be acidic and solutions with a pH greater than 7 are basic or alkaline...

.