Balancing Chemical Equations Gizmo Activity

PURPOSE:
To practice balancing chemical equations and to provide examples of balancing chemical equations.

RESEARCH:
The Law of Conservation of Mass states that during a chemical reaction, matter is neither created nor destroyed but it can form new combinations. All of the atoms before the reaction must be present after the reaction but they can form new combinations.

PROCEDURE:
1. Determine where the reactants and products are.
2. List the number of atoms for each element in the reactants.
3. List the number of atoms for each element in the products.
4. Add coefficients to balance the equation (#reactants = #products).
5. Adding coefficients will change the list of atoms from steps 2 and 3. Continue to add coefficients until both sides are balanced.