some equations for balancing
Follow the below steps for balancing the chemical equation:
1. Write the unbalanced equation.
In the equation, chemical formula of reactants is written at LHS and chemical formula of products at RHS separated by arrow between them.
2. Balance the equation.
Apply the Law of Conservation of Mass to get the same number of atoms of every element on each side of the equation.
Once one element is balanced, proceed to balance another, and another, until all elements are balanced.
Balance chemical formulas by placing coefficients in front of them. Do not add subscripts, because this will change the formulas.
For your better understanding let us see an example.
1. Write down the chemical equation. For example,
2. Let us write down the number of atoms that we have on each side of the equation. See the subscripts next to each atom to find the number of atoms in the equation.
Left side: 3 carbon, 8 hydrogen and 2 oxygen
Right side: 1 carbon, 2 hydrogen and 3 oxygen
3. We should always leave hydrogen and oxygen for last. This means that we need to balance the carbon atoms first.
Left side: 3 carbon and Right side: 1 carbon
4. Add a coefficient to the single carbon atom on the right of the equation to balance it with the 3 carbon atoms on the left of the equation.
Left side: 3 carbon and Right side: 3 carbon
The coefficient 3 in front of carbon on the right side indicates 3 carbon atoms just as the subscript 3 on the left side indicates 3 carbon atoms.
In a chemical equation, we can change coefficients, but we should never alter the subscripts.
5. Balance the hydrogen atoms next. We have 8 on the left side, so we will need 8 on the right side.
Left side: 3 carbon, 8 hydrogen
Right side: 3 carbon, 8 hydrogen
On the right side, we added a 4 as the coefficient because the subscript showed that we already had 2 hydrogen atoms.
When we multiply the coefficient 4 times the subscript 2, it ends up with 8.
6. Finish by balancing the oxygen atoms.
Because we've added coefficients to the molecules on the right side of the equation, the number of oxygen atoms has changed. We now have 4 oxygen atoms in the water molecule and 6 oxygen atoms in the carbon dioxide molecule. That makes a total of 10 oxygen atoms.
Add a coefficient of 5 to the oxygen molecule on the left side of the equation. We have now 10 oxygen molecules on each side.
Left side: 3 carbon, 8 hydrogen and 10 oxygen
Right side: 3 carbon, 8 hydrogen and 10 oxygen
The carbon, hydrogen and oxygen atoms are balanced. The equation is complete.