Balancing Chemical Equations What is a chemical equation? There are 2 sides to a chemical equation. The Reactants – what is being combined (the arrow points away from the reactants) The Products – What is being produced (the arrow points toward the products) The Arrow – means “Yields” Example: H 2 + O 2  H 2 O Reactants  Products (Yields)

How to Balance a Chemical Equation The Law of Conservation of Matter You cannot create nor destroy matter, you can only move matter from one place to another. Each element in a chemical reaction must balance (equal) each other on the reactant and product side of a chemical equation Not a balanced chemical equation H 2 + O 2  H 2 O Rules for balancing: 1. cannot change the subscripts 2. can (must)change the coefficients by either adding or changing a coefficient

How to Balance a Chemical Equation Let’s balance this equation. ___H 2 + ___O 2  ___H 2 O Next