1. Curtis Ward, Instructor Southern Crescent Technical College
Solving Chemical Equations What Your Students Need to Know and the Keys to Solving Any Equations
Curtis Ward, Instructor
Southern Crescent Technical College

2. Who Am I? Simultaneously! Of Course! Youth/College Pastor – 9 years
ESL Tutor – 2 ½ years
Substitute Teacher (Middle and High School) – 5 Years
Painter – 4 years
Simultaneously! Of Course!
For the last 4 years, I’ve been an Adult Education Instructor at Southern Crescent Technical College and I teach everything in every level…
but mostly math because no one else wants to.

3. You Need A Scratch Sheet of Paper Today
We’re going to work out some equations
And we’re going to mess up from time to time
And you’re going to see what it’s like in my class on Chemical Equations Day

4. Chemical Equations
Show how substances come together to create new substances
Show how substances break down into other substances (decomposition)
Show the chemical reaction on the smallest scale possible
Fewest number of atoms and molecules to make it happen

5. Start at The Beginning: Vocabulary
Atoms (Elements)
Molecules
It’s not important what every molecule or element is.
It is important that you can tell how many you actually have

6. Letters Capital Letters Lower Case Letters
Stand for an individual element
Lower Case Letters
Just tell you which element you are working with that has the same capital letter as another element
There are only 26 letters after all and potentially an infinite number of elements
For our purposes, ignore the lower case letters
You do not need them in order to balance a chemical equation

7. Coefficients
Numbers in front of molecules that tell you how many molecules you have
These are the ONLY things that change when balancing a chemical equation
If you don’t see a coefficient, it is assumed to be a 1
Just like algebra (see what we did there)

8. Subscripts
Small numbers after and below an element that tell you how many atoms of the element are in a particular molecule
But…how is that different than a coefficient?
Because subscripts DO NOT CHANGE
They remain constant because each molecule can only be formed with the exact number of atoms of each element
Also, subscripts only apply to the element (or sometimes parenthesis) directly in front of them, not to the entire molecule

9. Parenthesis
Used to group parts of a molecule to denote the structure of the atoms within the molecule
Also used to ascribe one subscript to a group of atoms
Just like algebra (see what we did there)

10. The Arrow There is no equals sign in a chemical equation
This is because chemical reactions only go one way
Ex: When something burns and turns into ashes and smoke, it can’t be turned back into wood by just reversing the process
Instead of an equals sign, there is an arrow
This arrow is expressed as “yields” and means that what is on one side creates or becomes the other side

11. Tips, Not Steps
These are things you should look for in any chemical equation
They help you know where to begin (and where not to)
But yes, you should always do number one!
By the way, I need a “googler”
Volunteer?

12. Let’s Practice! Remember these tips! End with elements that are alone
Start with elements that appear only once on each side
Start with odd numbers (they’re usually easier)
Do Not write 1’s until everything is balanced
Reduce if possible
And…if you have replaced a coefficient a few times already, time to start again with a different approach

13. Problem Number… 1 2 6 7 11 12 14 16

14. Questions?

15. Things I Live By Never teach anything that doesn’t work every time
Anticipate your students’ questions
Know the subject backwards and forwards (literally)
Make mistakes!
It lets the students know that even the pros mess up
It gives the students a chance to find errors and correct them – a mark of true understanding of a concept
Let students talk to each other
They know why they always messed up, so let them help those going through the same challenges.

16. Extra Fun! Facebook: Like My Page Math With Mr. Ward
AND Check out my FREE Downloadable, Printable, and completely yours to alter and use, ever-growing collection of math instructions – just like the “Tips for Balancing Chemical Equations” you received today at:
Math Notes PDF

17. Thank You So Much! Please leave me some feedback so I can do better next time!