In the chemical equation, how do the number of atoms of each element in the reactants compare to the number of atoms of each element in the products?
1 Answer
Feb 19, 2017
Atoms of the reactant(s) must equal the atoms of the product(s).
Explanation:
According to the Law of Conservation, all atoms of the reactant(s) must equal the atoms of the product(s).
As a result, we need to balance chemical equations. We do this by adding in coefficients to the reactants and/or products. The compound(s) itself/themselves DOES NOT CHANGE.
Unbalanced chemical equations (AKA skeleton equations) disobey the law and should never be used in any chemical calculation, like stoichiometry.
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Here we see the balanced equation has equal numbers of atoms on each side of the yield sign:
- 18 Oxygen atoms,
- 12 Hydrogen atoms,
- 6 Carbon atoms
Hope this helps :)
