BALANCING EQUATIONS NO3 - Balancing equations made easy

Here is an equation that needs to be balanced: Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Step 1: list all the elements neatly under the arrow Fe O C

Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C Now count up how many you have on each side

Count up how many you have on each side Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C 21 First the Fe

Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C = 4 2 Help – there are on the left 3 in Fe 2 O 3 Plus 1 in CO We could write it as C 1 O 1 – but we don’t put the 1 Now the O

Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C Now the C

Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C We need 1 more Fe on the RIGHT And 2 more O on the right But the C are balanced – 1 each side. We need to change the number of O and then rebalance the C This is what we have

Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C Tip: Because we have Fe on its own on the right, we can easily balance that at the end. So, lets look at balancing the O, then C

Fe + CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C So, lets look at balancing the O To balance the O we need 2 more on the RIGHT To do that we need to have 2 CO 2

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C So, lets look at balancing the O Now let’s count up the C and O on the right again

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C So, lets look at balancing the O 2 x 2 = 4 2 x 1 = 2

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O 3 + CO Fe O C The O is now balanced – great! But now the C is not!! Sigh! So, we now balance the C

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C The only way to add more C on the left is to add more CO

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C The only way to add more C on the left is to add more CO So let’s now count up the C and O on the LEFT

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C The only way to add more C on the left is to add more CO = 5 Hmm. That is not going to work. On the RIGHT we have CO 2 – so as we add more CO 2 on the right, O can only go up in 2, 4, 6 etc We need an EVEN number of O on the LEFT so we can balance them

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C = 5 We need an EVEN number of O on the LEFT so can balance them Let’s try 3 CO on the left. See what happens

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C = 6 Let’s try 3 CO on the left. See what happens OK, we now have six O on the left – we can get six O on the right too So we can balance the O Let’s see how many C we have now

Fe + 2 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C Let’s balance the C First count up the C on the left again 3 So we need one more C on the right to make it Don’t worry about the O. We will get back to that

Fe + 3 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C We need one more C on the right to make it We do that by having 3 CO 2 on the right Now C is balanced, we need to balance O

Fe + 3 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C Now C is balanced, we need to balance O Count up the O on the right 3 x 2 = 6 Now O and C are balanced We just need to balance Fe And that is easy

2 Fe + 3 CO 2 Fe 2 O CO Fe O C The equation is balanced