Beginning

Balancing
Equations
Tutorial

Review:
The Law of Conservation of Mass
states that you must have the
same number and kind of atoms
in both the reactants and
products.
Law of Conservation of Mass

If you look at the PTE, there are quite a few

atoms, however, these are atoms under
ideal situations. Most of the elements do
not exist as ATOMS, particles where
Protons = Electrons. Instead, they are
found as compounds since they tend to
form ions, and ions combine with
oppositely charged ions to eliminate their
ionic charge.

Classroom review notes

If you recall the class notes, Atoms must

follow two rules that nature has set down.
1. they must have a full outer shell.
2. IF they are to have a charge, they will
have the lowest possible charge.
They must adhere to both rules.
Column 8 atoms are therefore special.
They already have a full outer shell AND
they have NO charge.

Rules for atoms

Atoms will gain and lose electrons in order

to fill their outer shell. Generally, atoms
in the following columns will form the
following ions:
Give eReceive eI II III IV V VI VII VIII
+1 +2 +3
-3 -2
-1
0
Notice that when you add the charge and
the column number for nonmetals, it
equals 8.

Forming Ions

When ions form, they look to find other

ions with an opposite charge. These
atoms will combine in ratios until a neutral
compound forms. The ratio for these
compounds is always the same since the
atom always makes the same ion, which
combine to make the same compound
with a net charge of zero. This would
explain why water is H2O and table salt is
NaCl.

Compounds

Complete and
balance the
equation below:
B + F
Example 1

Answer next slide.

Step 1: Find the charges of each atom.

Since B is in column III, it forms a +3
ion. F will form a 1 ion as it is in
column VII.
B+3 + F-1
Step 2: Make the neutral compound.
B+3 + F-1 BF3
Step 3: Balance the equation. In order
for there to be the same number of F
atoms in the reactants, a coefficient of 3
is needed.
B+3 + 3F-1 BF3

Complete and balance the equation below:

B +

Example 2

Te

Step 1: Find the ions formed and make a

neutral compound. B is in column III so it
makes a +3 ion, Te is in column VI, so it
makes a 2 ion. Your equation becomes:
B+3 + Te-2 B2Te3
Step 2: Now add coefficients of 2 and 3.
2B+3 + 3Te-2 B2Te3

Example 2 Answer

Complete and balance the equations below:

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

Na + Br
K + S
Mg + Cl
Ca + As
Ga + Se

Practice Problems

1. Na + Br NaBr
2. 2K + S K2S
3. Mg + 2Cl MgCl2
4. 3Ca + 2As Ca3As2
5. 2Ga + 3Se Ga2Se3

Solutions to Practice Problems

The next step in doing this type of

problem occurs when you are given a
specific amount of reactants and you
must determine three things:
1. What is the compound that forms?
2. How many of the compounds form?
3. What is left over?
Remember: Your equation must obey the
law of conservation of mass.

Complete and balance the equation below:

15Na +

Example 1

23Cl

Solution
Step 1: Same as before, find the ion and
make a neutral compound. Na is in
column I and forms a +1 ion, Cl is in
column VII and forms a 1 ion.
15Na+1 + 23Cl-1
NaCl
Step 2: Divide each coefficient by its
corresponding subscript in NaCl. For
both Na and Cl, it is an understood 1.

15Na+1 +

23Cl-1

Na1Cl1 so

15/1 = 15 This means you have enough Na

to make 15 compounds.
23/1 = 23 This means you have enough Cl
to make 23 compounds.
The Na will limit the compounds you can
make to 15.

15Na+1 +

23Cl-1

15Na1Cl1

In making 15 NaCl, you use 15Na and 15

of the 23 Cl. So you will have 8 Cl left
over.

15Na+1 +
or

23Cl-1

15Na1Cl1 + 8Cl

15Na+1 +

23Cl-1

15NaCl + 8Cl

Complete and give a balanced equation:

24K + 16S
Step 1: Find the charges and make a
neutral compound. K is found in column I
so it has a +1 ion, S is found in column
VI, giving it a 2 ion.

Example 2

The neutral compound now becomes

K2S1.
Step 2: Now divide the subscripts into
the corresponding coefficients to see
how many compounds of K2S can be
made. The smaller number is the
limiting factor.
24K/2 = 12 compounds are
possible
16S/1 = 16 compounds are
possible
The limiting factor in this problem is the
number of K atoms.

Now your equation becomes

24K + 16S 12K2S1
Step 3: Since you now know how many
compounds are made, the last step is to
find out if you have any of the reactants
left over, and if so, how many.
Multiplying the 12 x 2 in the products
tells you that 24 K were used. There are
no leftover K atoms. 12 x 1 tells you
that you used 12S of your 16 S atoms.

This means since you used 12S you have

4S remaining that have to be added to
the products (16S 12S = 4S).
Your final equation becomes

24K + 16S

12K2S + 4S

Now the equation is balanced, meaning

that it has the same number and kind of
atoms on both sides of the arrow.

Complete and balance the equation below:

21Ca

Example 3

+ 12P

Step 1: Find the charge of each atom

and then form the neutral compound.
Ca is located in group II, it forms a +2
ion. P is found in column V, so it forms
a 3 ion. Making the diagonal corners
match (most of the time).

Ca+2 + P-3 Ca3P2

Step 2: Now divide the coefficients by
the corresponding subscripts:
21Ca/3 = 7 compounds possible
12P/2 = 6 compounds possible

Now your equation becomes

21Ca+2 + 12P-3

6Ca3P2

The final step is to see how many atoms

were used in making the
6Ca3P2 .
6 x 3 = 18 Ca used of the 21 in the
reactants. This means you have 21Ca
18Ca = 3Ca atoms left over for the
products.
6 x 2 = 12 P atoms used in the products.
No leftover atoms. Your final equation is
21Ca+2 + 12P-3 6Ca3P2 +3Ca

Complete and balance the equations below:

1.
2.
3.
4.

5.

8Mg + 12Cl
16K + 8O
8Al + 27F
21Li + 6As
9Co + 14P

Practice Problems

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

8Mg + 12Cl 6MgCl2 +2Mg

16K + 8O 8K2O
8Al + 27F 8AlF3 + 3F
21Li + 6As 6Li3As + 3Li
9Co + 14P 3Co3P2 + 8P

Answers to Practice Problems

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

AlF3 + MgCl2
Li3As + K2S
Mg(NO3)2 + KBr
AlP + GaSb
FeCl2 + NaBr
AlCl3 + NaNO3

Complete and Balance

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

2AlF3 + 3MgCl2 3MgF2 + 2AlCl3

2Li3As + 3K2S 2K3As + 3Li2S
Mg(NO3)2 + 2KBr 2KNO3 + MgBr2
AlP + GaSb GaP + AlSb
FeCl2 + 2NaBr 2NaCl + FeBr2
AlCl3 + 3NaNO3 3NaCl + Al(NO3)3

Answers to the problems