Reactions D3: More Balancing Chemical Equations

FQ:  How do we represent conservation of mass through balancing equations?

Ohio Train Chemical Burn:  What’s the science?

• Washington Post Article:  What happened: they burned it so it wouldn’t blow up - link
• Try to answer some of our questions.

1.  Read

A chemical equation is a description of a chemical reaction. The chemical formulas for the reactants are on the left side of the equation, and the chemical formulas for the products are on the right side. An arrow separates the reactants from the products.

In the equation above,the reactants are glucose and oxygen. A glucose molecule is  made of 6 carbon atoms, 12 hydrogen atoms, and 6 oxygen atoms, shown by the subscripts. Each oxygen molecule is made of 2 oxygen atoms. 

This equation has a coefficient, the large 6, in front of the symbol for the oxygen molecule. That coefficient means that there are 6 oxygen molecules that react with every 1 glucose molecule. 

The right side of the equation shows that the reaction will product 6 carbon dioxide molecules. Since each carbon dioxide molecule is made of one carbon atom and 2 oxygen atoms, there will be 6 carbon atoms in all 6 molecules, and 12 oxygen atoms in all 6 molecules. 

The right side of the equation also shows that the reaction will produce 6 water molecules. Since each water molecule is made of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom, there will be 12 hydrogen atoms and 6 oxygen atoms in all 6 molecules of water. 

2.Interact

Click "take the quiz" to explore more chemical equations with this guided learning activity!

3.  Practice In-class balancing technique:  Study Guide, choose 10 points from #13 Mild/Medium/Spicy

Absent?  Watch this video showing our 3 step balancing technique.