BALANCED EQUATIONS

=Balanced Equations= A chemical equation shows the formula of the reactants / products. Each side of the equation should have the same number of each atom. Numbers may need to be put in front of some formula in order to achieve this and balance the equation. ==Step One== Write a word equation if it hasn’t already been done for you E.g. Sulphuric Acid + Aluminium Hydroxide → Aluminium Sulphate + Water ==Step Two== Write the formula of each reactant & product. You may have to use an ion table to work out some of the formulae (have a look at the node ''IONIC FORMULAE'' if you're unsure) [image:http://i.imgur.com/MxJoOfS.png] ==Step Three== Starting with the most complex looking formula, place numbers in front of each formula until the equation is balanced. E.g. the equation below has two Aluminium atoms on the right so we need add a 2 on the left [image:http://i.imgur.com/XH2s1Mr.png] Double check it’s balanced (equal numbers of each atom on both side). If you get stuck start over beginning with a different formula ===Detailed Example=== ===Step 1=== [image:http://i.imgur.com/kQCGxPN.png?2] Write a list of each element and write down the total number of each for each side of the equation. E.g. in this example there is a total of 3 oxygen atoms on the right side of the equation ===Step 2=== [image:http://i.imgur.com/BtFeOl8.png?1] Start with the most complex looking formula (in this case it’s probably C3H8). It’s best to leave the simplest ones (like O2) till last. Take the first element in this chemical (Carbon) and find the chemical that also has this element on the other side of the equation (Carbon Dioxide). ===Step 3=== [image:http://i.imgur.com/V86jsPD.png?1] We can now put a “big” number in front to adjust the number of carbons on each side. In this example we can put a 3 in front of the CO2 so that we have 3 carbon atoms on both side of the equation. Note: you can never change the “little” numbers within each formula you can only add / change the “big” numbers in front. ===Step 4=== [image:http://i.imgur.com/yTBT6b8.png?1] Now do the same to balance the number of the other atoms. E.g. to balance the number of hydrogens we can put a 4 in front of H2O ===Step 5=== [image:http://i.imgur.com/8oEAShi.png?1] Balance the remaining atoms in the same way. E.g. to balance the number of oxygen atoms we can put a 5 in front of O2 Double check that you have the same number of each atom on both sides.