Lesson 6: Balancing equations

What you need to know: 1. How to use chemical symbols to show chemical reactions. 2. How to write a balanced equation

Balanced equations are important as they show and describe the reaction between different atoms and molecules. They are needed so scientists can find out exactly how much of different elements are needed for a particular chemical reaction. Think of a chemical equation as a recipe for scientists wanting to make new molecules. In your exam you might be asked why balanced equations are important. When atoms and molecules react together there are always the same amount of atoms on the left hand side of the equation as there are on the right hand side. Remember it is impossible for atoms to simply disappear , which is why the amount of atoms on each side must balance. So if we looked at the reaction of sodium with water as a word equation: sodium + water sodium hydroxide + hydrogen

Writing this as a balanced symbol equation we would get: 2Na(s) + 2H2O(l) On the left side there are 2 sodium atoms, 2 oxygen atoms and 4 hydrogen atoms. 2NaOH(l) + H2(g) On the right side there are 2 sodium atoms, 2 oxygen atoms and 4 hydrogen atoms.

Since there are the same amount of atoms on the left and right sides of the equation then the equation is balanced. When you need to write out a balanced equation you need to follow these rules: 1. Write out a word equation for the reaction. 2. Write out the chemical formulae for elements and molecules in the reaction using element symbols. 3. Balance out the equation. 4. Add state symbols. This just means if it is a solid (s), liquid(l), gas (g) or dissolved in water (aq, meaning aqueous).

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In your exam you will be asked to write out balanced equations for various chemical reactions. You may have seen numbers before and after the chemical symbols in the symbol equations, but what do they mean? 1. If the number is at the start of the chemical formulae it tells you how many complete molecules you have. So for example 2H2O, means that you have two complete H2O molecules. 2. If the number is small and comes after the chemical symbol, then you have that many of that atom only. So, for example, in H2O you have two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen. Another example is if you have CH4 this means there is one atom of carbon and four atoms of oxygen. In your exam you will need to be able to correctly place the numbers before and after symbols in equations. You will also need to know that certain elements like to go around in diatomic pairs, which means that they are found together. Common examples of diatomic pairs are oxygen (O2), hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2), fluorine (F2), chlorine (Cl2), bromine (Br2) and iodine (I2). An easy way to remember this is that if you have a gas, then its usually in a diatomic pair. In your exam you will need to know that hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, fluorine, chlorine, bromine and iodine exist as diatomic pairs. You will need to write this in balanced equations. Recap: 1. Balanced equations are important as they show scientists exactly what is going on in a reaction. 2. The same amount of atoms must be on both sides of the symbol equation. 3. If there is a number before an atom or molecule, you have that many atoms of everything after the number. 4. If you have a number after an atom then you have that many atoms of that atom only. 5. Most gases exist as pairs, such as oxygen (O2), hydrogen (H2), nitrogen (N2), fluorine (F2), chlorine (Cl2).

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