Writing chemical equation

A chemical equation shows what happens in a chemical reaction. It tells us:

 Which reactants and products are involved in the reaction;

 The relative amounts of reactants and products;
 The physical states of the reactants and products of the reaction.

In a mathematical equation, the values on the left-hand side must be equal to the values on the right-hand side. They
must balance.

A balanced chemical equation must contain an equal number of atoms of each element on both sides of the equation.
A balanced chemical equation should consist of the following components.

The reactants are written on the left-hand side The product(s) are written on the right-
of the equation hand side of the equation.

The chemical The state symbols indicate

equation is
balanced by
adding a number
in the front of the
chemical formula.
2H₂ (g) + O₂(g) 2H₂O(l) the physical state of each
reactant and product. The
state symbols are:
 (s):solid

The arrow means ‘react to form’. The  (g): gas

reaction proceeds from left to right.  (l):liquid
 (aq):aqueous

Steps in writing a balanced chemical equation:

Step 1 Write down the chemical formulae of the reactants and H₂ + O₂ H₂O
products to get the chemical equation.
Step 2 Check the number of atoms of each element in the Left-hand side Right-hand side
formulae on both sides of the equation. If the equation is 2 H atoms 2 H atoms
not balanced, proceed to step 3. 2 O atoms 1 O atoms
Step 3 Balancing equation:
 To balance the number of oxygen atoms, put a ‘2’ H₂ + O₂ 2 H₂O
in front of H₂O. This means that two molecules of
water are formed.
 The equation is still not balanced because there are 2H₂ +O₂ 2H₂O
four hydrogen atoms on the right-hand side and
only two on the left-hand side.
 To balance the equation, we need to put a ‘2’ in
front of H₂.
Step 4 Add state symbols to indicate the physical state of each 2H₂(g) + O₂(g) 2H₂O(l)
reactant and product.