Unit 5 Chem - I. CoM & Balancing Equations

Conservation of Mass

in a chemical reaction, nothing is created/destroyed, only rearranged

In a closed system where everything is contained,

the starting mass of the reactants will = the end mass of the products

For balancing equations, each element will appear _______.

on both sides of an arrow (separates reactants from products)

Depending on what these elements are bonded to in a chemical equation, _____.

the amount of elements may be different, so you must balance

Why can’t you change H₂O to H₂O₂?

bc it’s a different chemical & represents a different chemical reaction

Define the term “coefficient”

a # placed in front of a chemical in an equation to balance it; shows how many of each chemical is present for 1 reaction

What 2 math skills must you use to balance chemical equations?

1. LCM

2. Distributive prop.