INTRO TO STOICHIOMETRY: BALANCING CHEMICAL EQUATIONS
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We started our Introduction to Stoichiometry by learning how to calculate the molar mass of molecular compounds (covalent bonding) and formula units (ionic bonding).
This blog will continue to guide you towards our Stoichiometry unit. Bottom line is that in order to do Stoichiometric calculations (yup, there will be Math!) you need to have a very good understanding of what a chemical equation is AND how to balance it properly.
I am hoping that between my blog and the CK-12 online learning site, you can get enough help to be able to understand the subject at hand.
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Let’s start!
WHAT IS A CHEMICAL EQUATION?
SUMMARY:
To me, a chemical reaction is a process and a chemical equationis the recipe that explains that process. In class, you’ve heard me comparing chemical equations to an apple pie recipe (or you can choose your favorite recipe). You have your ingredients (reactants)and your apple pie (products)and in order to actually convert your ingredients into your delicious apple pie you must place them in a pan inside of a heated oven (this is represented by the “arrow”indicating the reactants are “yielding”the products via a chemical process). In other words, reactants chemically combine by breaking chemical bondsand produce (yield) the products by reforming new chemical bonds. Easy, right?
Chemical reactions take place when bonds are broken, atoms rearrange themselves to form new compounds(two or more different atoms chemically bonded) or molecules(ie: diatomic molecules) and new bonds are formed. All of this work requires energy (another concept for later).
The Law of Consservation of Mass (or Matter) states that during a chemical reaction (or process) the total mass (or matter) remains constant. Basically, the type and number of atoms in the reactant side of a chemical equation must be equal to the type and number of atoms in the product side. Matter is not destroyed during the chemical process but rearranged to form a different type of matter (the products). When you get your apple pie out of the oven, the same amount of ingredients you mixed in the bowl are present in the pie. Nothing got lost.
It is because of this Law of Conservation of Mass that chemical equations need to be balanced to show that there is the same type and numbers of atoms in the reactant and the product side of the equation. The way to balance equations is by changing the coefficientin front of the compounds or molecules.
Please, read the notes from my blogs and the notes from CK-12 to learn how to properly balance chemical equations. The videos are very useful as well. Tyler DeWitt videos are pretty good.
NOTES:
PRACTICE:
VIDEOS:
