What are some common mistakes students make with chemical equations?

1 Answer
Paul
May 30, 2014

Perhaps the most common mistake is mistaking diatomic molecules as being already balanced in a chemical equation.

Here's an example of what I mean:

C_6H_12O_6 -> C_2H_5O_6 + CO_2

Balanced it's

C_6H_12O_6 -> 2C_2H_5O_6 + 2CO_2

Students tend to forget that CO_2 needs to be balanced - the fact that it has a familiar chemical formula doesn't help.

It is also really common to forget that CO_2 has two atoms of oxygen - this is an essential piece of knowledge when balancing equations. It does not mean that there are two molecules of CO_2, it merely means there are two atoms of oxygen present in the molecule.

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