In this skill we will learn to balance simple chemical equations that contain just two different elements.
When the number of atoms of reactants is equal to the number of atoms of products for all elements, then the equation is balanced!
Start by counting up the number of atoms of each element in each of the reactants and the products.
If there is not enough of an element in the reactants or products, add a coefficient on that side of the equation, and relcalculate the number of atoms of each element to see if the equation is balanced yet!
Tips
You may need to go through several rounds of changing the coefficients and counting the elements before the equation is balanced - don't give up!
You can speed up the process by making intelligent guesses of what the coefficient might be.
Big Ideas
In this skill we will learn to balance simple chemical equations that contain just two different elements.
When the number of atoms of reactants is equal to the number of atoms of products for all elements, then the equation is balanced!
Start by counting up the number of atoms of each element in each of the reactants and the products.
If there is not enough of an element in the reactants or products, add a coefficient on that side of the equation, and relcalculate the number of atoms of each element to see if the equation is balanced yet!
Tips
You may need to go through several rounds of changing the coefficients and counting the elements before the equation is balanced - don't give up!
You can speed up the process by making intelligent guesses of what the coefficient might be.
Balance the following equation, submit your answers as a list of coefficients.