Balancing Chemical Equation Formula

A Balancing Chemical Equation is a concise representation of the components of a chemical reaction, symbolically shown with the reactants on the left and the products on the right. On an everyday basis, we can observe various chemical reactions taking place. These involve rearranging matter to create something new or different. Balancing such equations necessitates adding stoichiometric coefficients to both reactants and products to obey the law of constant proportions and the law of conservation of mass - i.e. so that equal numbers of atoms for every element appear on both sides of the equation. Two main methods are used for this purpose: traditional balancing equations and algebraic balancing.

• Write the imbalanced equation to show the reactants and products.
• Calculate the number of atoms of each element on each side of the reaction arrow.
• Multiply coefficients (the numbers in front of the formulas) to make the number of atoms of each element the same.
• Last to balance are the hydrogen and oxygen atoms.
• You should indicate the state of matter of the reactants and products in your work.

Chemical Equation

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Stoichiometric Coefficient

• A ratio is provided between the reacting species and their products.
• In the reaction described by the CH4 + 2O2 → CO2 + 2H2O reaction , the stoichiometric coefficient of O 2 and H 2 O is 2. At the same time, that of C H 4 and C O 2 is 1.
• A balanced chemical equation has the number of atoms of an element in a species equal to the product of the stoichiometric coefficient and the number of atoms in one molecule.
• The reacting species ' 2 O 2 ' has four oxygen atoms in total.
• The stoichiometric coefficients are assigned in a manner that balances the total number of atoms of an element on both sides of the reaction.

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The Traditional Balancing Chemical Equation

• Chemical formulae of the reactants and products (if not already provided) must be used to obtain the unbalanced equation.
• As propane burns with oxygen ( O 2 ), it produces carbon dioxide ( C O 2 ) and water ( H 2 O ).
• An unbalanced chemical equation can be written as C 3 H 8 + O 2 → C O 2 + H 2 O

• Stoichiometric coefficients are now added to molecules containing an element with a different number of atoms on the reactant and product sides.
• There must be a balance between the number of atoms on each side of the coefficient.
• The stoichiometric coefficients are usually assigned to hydrogen and oxygen atoms last.
• The number of atoms must now be updated on the reactant and product sides.
• To calculate the number of atoms in a species, multiply the stoichiometric coefficient by the total number of atoms in 1 molecule of that species.
• When the coefficient 3 is assigned to CO2, the total number of oxygen atoms in CO2 becomes 6. In this example, the coefficient is first assigned to carbon.

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The Algebraic Balancing Method

• The chemical formulas of the reactants and products must be written down to obtain the unbalanced chemical equation.
• The reactants in this example are glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O2), and the products are carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O).
• Unbalanced chemical equation: C6H12O6 + O2 → CO2 + H2O

• 'A' molecules of C6H12O6 contain '6a' carbon atoms on the reactant side.
• 'C' molecules of CO2 contain 'c' carbon atoms on the product side.
• C6H12O6 and CO2 are the only species containing carbon in this equation.

• C6H12O6 and H2 are the species containing hydrogen in this equation,
• C6H12O6 molecules contain 12a hydrogen atoms, whereas H2O molecules contain 2d hydrogen atoms.
• As a result, 12a = 2d becomes the equation for hydrogen.
• By dividing both sides by 2, the equation becomes: 6a = d