CHEMICAL
EQUATIONS
SCIENCE- CHEMISTRY
CLASS VIII
WHAT IS A CHEMICAL
EQUATION?
A chemical equation is the symbolic representation of a
chemical reaction.
Chemical reactions result in chemical changes. Chemical
changes occur when new substances are created.
The original substance(s), called reactants, change into new
substance(s) called products.
Reactants Products
HOW TO WRITE A CHEMICAL EQUATION
The reactants and the products are separated by an arrow symbol
Each individual substance’s chemical formula is separated from the other
by a plus sign
The reactants are written on the Left Hand Side (LHS) of the arrow.
The products are written on the Right Hand Side (RHS) of the arrow.
The arrow head points towards the products and shows the direction of the
reactants.
Ex. Fe + S FeS
(iron) (sulphur) (iron sulphide)
reactants product
LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS
When a chemical reaction occurs, new compounds are created,
BUT…
No new matter is created or destroyed ,atoms are just rearranged
to form new compounds.
If there are 3 atoms of oxygen in the reactants, there MUST be 3
atoms of oxygen in the products.
Number of atoms of each element in the reactants = Number of
atoms of each element in the products.
The law of conservation of mass:
Mass of reactants = Mass of products
K K O O K O K
K K K O K
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BALANCED AND
SKELETAL CHEMICAL EQUATION
BALANCED CHEMICAL
SKELETAL CHEMICAL EQUATION
EQUATION
HOW TO BALANCE A CHEMICAL
EQUATION
Elements No. of atoms in No. of atoms in
reactants products
H 2 2
O 2 1
Elements No. of atoms in No. of atoms in
reactants products
H 2 2
O 2 2 (WRONG)
Elements No. of atoms in reactants No. of atoms in products
H 2 4
O 2 2
Elements No. of atoms in reactants No. of atoms in products
H 4 4
O 2 2
Elements No. of atoms in reactants No. of atoms in products
Fe 1 3
H 2 2
O 1 4
To balance the oxygen atoms
Elements No. of atoms in reactants No. of atoms in products
Fe 1 3
H 8 2
O 4 4
To balance the hydrogen atoms on
RHS
Elements No. of atoms in reactants No. of atoms in products
Fe 1 3
H 8 8
O 4 4
To balance the iron atoms on LHS
BALANCED CHEMICAL EQUATION
Elements No. of atoms in reactants No. of atoms in products
Fe 3 3
H 8 8
O 4 4
STEPS OF BALANCING
Balance chemical equations by following these steps:
USE A TABLE (Write atoms underneath reactants and products)
Balance one element at a time & rewrite the coefficients of atoms in
the chart as things change.
Only add coefficients . NEVER change subscripts.
If
H and O appear in more than one place, attempt to balance them
LAST .
Always double check after you think you are finished.
Check your answers!
SOME EXAMPLES OF BALANCED
CHEMICAL EQUATIONS
SOME MORE EXAMPLES OF BALANCED CHEMICAL
EQUATIONS (Assignment Booklet)
WRITING SYMBOLS OF PHYSICAL
STATES
LINK FOR BALANCING
EQUATIONS SIMULATIONS
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/b
alancing-chemical-
equations/latest/balancing-chemical-
equations_en.html
CASE STUDY QUESTIONS
A) Read the following and solve questions:
According to the law of conservation of mass, the mass of the products in a chemical reaction
must equal the mass of the reactants. In other words, the number of atoms of each elements
remains the same, before and after a chemical reaction we need to balance a skeletal chemical
equation. A chemical equation consists of the chemical formulas of the reactants (the starting
substances) and the chemical formula of the products (substances formed in the chemical
reaction). The two are separated by an arrow symbol ( usually read as "yields") and
each individual substance's chemical formula is separated from others by a plus sign.
Q1What are products?
Q2. In a chemical equation the starting substances are called as
a) Reactants b) Products
c) Both a) and b) d) None of these
Q3.When balancing equations, a ____ can be placed
to the left of a formula of a substance to make the Answer key
equations balanced. 1 a) The substances formed
a) charge b) subscript in the chemical reaction are
c) valency d) coefficient
called products.
2 a) Reactants
3 d) coefficient
Q4. What coefficient should be used to make the 4 b) 2
following equation balanced?
N2 + O2 xNO
a) 1 b) 2
c) 3 d) 4
B) Read the following and answer questions from i) to iv).
In a balanced chemical reaction, equal number of atoms are present on both sides of
reaction. A balanced chemical reaction is based on law of conservation of mass
which means that total mass of reactants and products participating in a reaction
must be equal. For example, a balanced chemical equation of burning of magnesium
in oxygen to form magnesium oxide is written as :
2Mg + O2 2 MgO
i. Which of the following laws is satisfied by a ii Which of the following statements is/are correct?
balanced chemical equation A chemical equation tells us about the substances involved in a
reaction.
(a) Law of multiple proportions
(a) A chemical equation informs us about the symbols and
(b) Law of conservation of mass formulae of the substances involved in a reaction.
(c) Law of conservation of motion (b)A chemical equation tells us about the atoms or molecules of
d) Law of conservation of magnetism the reactants and products involved in a reaction.
(c) All the above.
iii. Which of the following chemical equations is an unbalanced
one
(a) 2NaHCO3 Na2 CO3 + H 2O + CO 2 Answer key
(b) 2C 4H10 + 9O2 8CO+ 10H2O 1(b) Law of conservation of mass
(c) Al + H2O AI(OH)3 +H2 2 (d) All the above.
(d) 4NH3 + 5O2 4NO + 6H2O 3 (c ) Al + H2 AI(OH)3 + H2
iv. The nature of oxide of magnesium (MgO) is 4 (b) Basic
(a) Acidic (b) Basic
(c) Neutral (d) Both a) and b)
