CONSERVATION OF MASS IN CHEMICAL CHANGES

o A chemical change always involves the conversion of substances, called reactants, into other substance, called products. o A CHEMICAL REACTION is a process in which new substances with new properties are formed. o o In a chemical reaction, atoms are conserved (they are neither created nor destroyed). The atoms are merely rearranged to form new substances. A French chemist, named Antoine Lavoisier, proved that mass remains unchanged in a chemical reaction. He continuously repeated the same experiment in which he heated mercury (II) oxide in a closed container to produce mercury and oxygen. Time after time, his results indicated that the mass of the reactants was the same as the mass of the products. o The LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS states that in a chemical reaction, the total mass of the products is always the same as the total mass of the reactants. o A REACTANT is a pure substance that undergoes a chemical change (it is a beginning material in a chemical change). o A PRODUCT is a pure substance that is formed in a chemical change (it is the final material in a chemical change). The properties of the product(s) are different from the properties of the reactants.

WRITING CHEMICAL EQUATIONS

o o A CHEMICAL EQUATION is a representation of what happens to the reactants and products during a chemical change. It is used to represent a chemical reaction. Chemical equations can be represented in three ways: o

WORD EQUATION: The name of each reactant is written to the left of an arrow and the
name of each product is written to the right of the arrow. o o A plus sign on the reactants side means reacts with. A plus sign on the product sign means and. The arrow stands for yields or reacts to produce.

Example) hydrogen + oxygen water

SKELETON EQUATION is when you replace the words (from a word equation) with
chemical formulas. This is done because a word equation shows the reactants and products of a reaction, but it does not provide information about the chemical composition of the substances. o

Example)

hydrogen + oxygen water (word equation) H2 + O2 H2O (skeleton equation)

BALANCED CHEMICAL EQUATION demonstrates the law of conservation of mass,

which requires the same number of atoms of each element to appear on both sides of a chemical equation. o A COEFFICIENT is a number that is placed in front of a chemical formula in a balanced chemical equation. The Coefficient is multiplied by every atoms subscript (remember that if there is not a subscript present, we assume there is a subscript of 1) The ONLY way to balance a chemical equation is to add coefficients, as you cannot alter the subscripts of the atoms (since this would alter the actual substance involved in the reaction). o Example)

hydrogen + oxygen water (word equation) H2 + O2 H2O (skeleton equation)

There are 2 hydrogen and 2 oxygen in the reactants, and 2 hydrogen, but only 1 oxygen in the products. 2H2 + O2 2H2O

(balanced chemical equation)

Now there are 4 hydrogen and 2 oxygen in the reactants, and 4 hydrogen and 2 oxygen in the products. Both sides of the equation are balanced.

SHOWING THE STATE OF A SUBSTANCE

o o In order to properly complete a balanced chemical equation, the states of the reactants and products at the temperature of the chemical reaction, may be included. So, we add an abbreviation at the end of the chemical formulas indicating the state of each chemical formula. State Solid Liquid Gas Aqueous solution Abbreviation (s) (l) (g) (aq) Example (at room temperature) Sodium chloride: NaCl(s) Water (l) Hydrogen: H2 (g) Aqueous sodium chloride solution: NaCl (aq)

BALANCING CHEMICAL EQUATIONS

Step 1) H2 (g) + O2 (g) H2O (l)
o In the skeleton equation, there is the same number of hydrogen atoms on both sides of the equation. However, there are more oxygen atoms in the reactants than there are in the products.

o Checking the Atom Balance

Element H O # of atoms in the Reactants 2 2 # of atoms in the Products 2 1 Equal? Yes No

Step 2) H2 (g) + O2 (g) 2H2O (l)

o o Placing the coefficient 2 in front of H2O causes the number of oxygen atoms on both sides of the equation to be the same. Because the coefficient 2 in front of H2O applies to all the elements in the compound, it will cause the number of hydrogen atoms in the products to equal 4.

o Checking the Atom Balance

Element H O # of atoms in the Reactants 2 2 # of atoms in the Products 4 2 Equal? No Yes

Step 3) 2H2 (g) + O2 (g) 2H2O ( o

l)

Placing another coefficient of 2 in front of H2 will now make the number of hydrogen atoms in both the reactants and products the same.

o Checking the Atom Balance

Element H O # of atoms in the Reactants 4 2 # of atoms in the Products 4 2 Equal? Yes Yes

TIPS FOR BALANCING CHEMICAL EQUATIONS

o o o o Remember that these elements exist as diatomic molecules: hydrogen (H 2), nitrogen (N2), fluorine (F2), chlorine (Cl2), bromine (Br2), iodine (I2), and oxygen (O2). First balance a compound (example: H2O) before individual elements (example: N2). Balance hydrogen and oxygen last. They often appear in more than one reactant or more than one product, so they are easier to balance after other elements are balanced. If a polyatomic ion appears in both a reactant and a product, think of it as a single unit to balance the chemical equation faster (keep it in the brackets and just add a coefficient in front of the bracket).

WRITING BALANCED CHEMICAL EQUATIONS

Practice Questions:
A) Ammonia, NH3 o
(g)

is produced from the reaction of nitrogen gas and hydrogen gas. Write a balanced

chemical equation for this reaction. Begin by writing a word equation nitrogen + hydrogen ammonia o Next, write a skeleton equation N2 + H2 NH3 o Finally, balance the equation using coefficients. If the states of the products and reactants are provided, make sure to include them. N2 (g) + 3H2
(g)

2NH3 (g)

B) A solid piece of magnesium reacts with oxygen gas to produce solid magnesium oxide.

C) Iron reacts with oxygen to produce rust, Fe2O3.

D) Nitrogen gas reacts with bromine gas to form gaseous nitrogen tribromide.

E) The combustion of methane gas, CH4 (g), involves its reaction with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide gas and water vapour.