Sometimes, scientists are given an equation and are expected to find how much of each compound they need so that they can figure out what to use in their lab or testing procedure.
These chemical equations give you the type of compound, but it is your job to figure out how much of that compound is actually present.
You can solve these kinds of equations by first finding out how much of each compound you have.
First, you will need to know what a coefficient is. A coefficient is a number that you place before a compound to depict how much of that compound is actually present.
Step 1 - Find the Reactants
To start off, we have 1 carbon, 4 hydrogens, and 2 chloride atoms.
Step 2 - Find the Products
Our products have 1 carbon, 1 hydrogen, and 5 chlorine atoms.
Step 3 - Make Up for Missing Atoms
We can see that the products only have 1 hydrogen atom, whereas the reactants have 4. Have 3 hydrogen atoms been lost throughout the reaction? NO. You need to make up for them. You can add the coefficient of 4 to the hydrogen chloride compound to get the number of hydrogen you need. But wait! You now have 2 chlorine atoms on the reactant's side and 8 on the product's side. You can even up this number as well by adding a coefficient of 4 on the diatomic molecule chlorine so that you get 8 chlorine atoms on both sides. Now, the equation is balanced.
You may have understood the basic steps needed to balance the equation. Now, let's work through a more easier problem step by step.
Based on what the reaction gives you, you can derive information from the reactants (step 1), the products (step 2), and then you can utilize that information to find the other coefficients (step 3) and thus balancing the equation.
Step 1 - Find the Reactants
The reactants are sodium hydroxide and hydrogen chloride. You have 1 sodium atom, 1 oxygen atom, 2 hydrogen atoms, and 1 chloride atom.
Step 2 - Find the Products
The products are sodium chloride and water. You have 2 sodium atoms, 2 chlorine atoms, 2 hydrogen atoms, and 1 oxygen atom.
Step 2.1 - Organize Your Data
This step is not mandatory but it helps in deciding what coefficient to put since you can check whether or not all atoms went through the reaction as products.
Step 3 - Balance Your Chemical Equation
A. You can first add a coefficient of '2' to sodium hydroxide. Now, the number of sodium atoms will be balanced.
B. You can add a coefficient of '2' to hydrogen chloride so that you get 4 hydrogen atoms total on the reactants side. The chlorine atoms will now be balanced as well.
C. You can add a final coefficient of '2' to water so that not only will the hydrogen atoms be balanced with 2 on each side, but the oxygen atoms will now be balanced as well with 2 atoms on each side.
And that's how you balance a chemical equation! I hoped this helped!
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