How Do You Balance A Simple Chemical Equation?
First of all, what is a chemical equation? A “chemical equation” is simply the literal representation of a chemical reaction. Thus, whenever matter is permanently changed, an equation can be written to describe its effects. Because reactions of this type occur every day, being able to balance these equations is a necessary skill for chemistry. However, this process need not seem daunting–with this guide, you will be able to solve even the most complex chemical conundrums! Let’s take a look the unbalanced equation for water, shown here. In all chemical equations, the substances that are present when the reaction begins are called the “reactants” and are usually found on the left-hand side of the equation; in this example, our reactants are H2 and O2 (the “g” simply refers to the fact that both elements are in the gaseous state). Similarly, substances found on the right side of the arrow are known as “products” and are present after the reaction, which in this case is water (the “l” ref
