How do you balcance a chemical equation?

Answer 1

Balancing a chemical equation is not the most simplest tasks. In order to balance a chemical equation, you must add coefficients to the chemical equation to ensure that the numbers of the atom add up to the same amount on each side. You can only add coefficients. Never take them away, or anything else in the chemical equation. I'll use a simple chemical equation as an example: Na + O2 → Na2O There is one sodium atom and two oxygen atoms on the left side of the arrow. There are two sodium atoms and one oxygen atom on the right side of the arrow. To show this, I will add more supscripts. Na1 + O2 → Na2O1 In order for this to be a balanced equation, you must make sure that the sodium and oxygen atoms on one side equal the amount of sodium and oxygen atoms on the other side of the atom. As the law of conservation of mass states, mass is not created or destroyed in chemical or physical changes. This is where coefficients come in. Coefficients are numbers added to the beginning of the atomic symbol that multiply the number of atoms of that element. We can start by adding the coefficient 2 in front of the "Na2O1". What we're trying to do is match the number of oxygen atoms on the right side of the arrow with the number of oxygen atoms on the left. We multiply the coefficient 2 by the supscripts 2 and 1, and this is what we get: Na1 + O2 → 2Na2O1 = Na1 + O2 → Na4O2 Now, the number of oxygen atoms match. However, the number of sodium atoms do not. The plus (+) sign on the left side of the equation is what separates both the sodium 1 atom and the oxygen 2 atoms. By adding the coefficient of 4 just to the sodium atom, you end up with this: 4Na1 + O2 → Na4O2 = Na4 + O2 → Na4O2 Now, both sides have the same number of atoms. Our result is: 4Na1 + O2 → 2Na2O1 = Na4 + O2 → Na4O2 By adding coefficients, the number of atoms have been made equal, and the equation is balanced.