CHEM 1010 Reflection

The assignment that I created, Balancing a Party, allowed me to show my

understanding of balancing equations. Based on what I learned during my Chemistry 1010
class, I am able to translate my knowledge of balancing equations into a real life situation.
I used the example of a birthday party and the supplies needed to demonstrate how one
would balance both sides of an equation. All parts need to be equal on both sides of the
equation. In order to ensure that both sides are equal, one would add a number to the front of
the item on the left to match the subscript of the same item on the other side. So if five balloons
were needed on the left it would say 5b and on the right it would say b(5). This is how it would
be done with a chemical equation. In a chemical equation, if the subscript of H on the right was
H(2), a two would need to be placed in front of the H on the left like so, 2H.
This assignment shows how one would have to put a certain number of something in to
get the same number out. In order to end with two hydrogens, one must put two hydrogens in.
This is the same with my party example, in order to have a balloon for each of the five kids,
five balloons must be bought, or put in.