Balancing Equations Chapter 8

Why do we balance equations?? It’s the Law Law of Conservation of Mass

Law of Conservation of Mass mass is neither created nor destroyed during the course of a chemical or physical reaction.

Law of Conservation of Mass Reactants -------> Products Mass of Reactants = Mass of Products

Law of conservation of Mass

How do we balance equations? We must make sure that Products = Reactants We use a Batting order!

Batting order Metals Other Cations Polyatomic ions Non-metals C H O All diatomics

How do I do that? Take A simple reaction: C + O2  CO2 Do the products Equal the reactants? What about … N2 + H2  NH3??

So What do I do??

Batting order.. In this case the batting order is easy. N2 first. I have 2 N on the reactant side so I add a coefficient on the product side. N2 + H2  2NH3 What about the H’s? I have a total of 6 H on the products so I use a Coefficient on the reactants side. N2 + 3H2  2NH3 Are we balanced?

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