Question
How can I balance a chemical equation?
Answers
Let us begin with a very basic chemical reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen to create ammonia
The reaction is
#N_2 + H_2 -> NH_3# The first step is to take an atom inventory of both sides of the equation.
Reactants
N = 2
H = 2Products
N = 1
H = 3To balance the unbalanced atoms of nitrogen we add a coefficient of 2 in front of the ammonia on the product side.
#N_2 + H_2 -> 2NH_3# This changes the atom inventory of both sides of the equation.
Reactants
N = 2
H = 2Products
N = 2
H = 6To complete balancing the equation we add a coefficient of 3 in front of the hydrogen on the reactant side.
#N_2 + 3H_2 -> 2NH_3# This changes the atom inventory of both sides of the equation.
Reactants
N = 2
H = 6Products
N = 2
H = 6And the equation is balanced.
Please review the video below to see more examples of balancing equations.
I hope this was helpful.
SMARTERTEACHER