What is a Chemical Equation?

In chemistry, we use symbols to represent the various chemicals. Success in

chemistry depends upon developing a strong familiarity with these basic
symbols. For example, the symbol "C"represents an atom of carbon, and "H"
represents an atom of hydrogen. To represent a molecule of table salt, sodium
chloride, we would use the notation "NaCl", where "Na" represents sodium and
"Cl" represents chlorine. We call chlorine "chloride" in this case because of its
connection to sodium. You should have reviewed naming schemes, or
nomenclature, in earlier readings.

A chemical equation is an expression of a chemical process. For example:

AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq) ---> AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq)

In this equation, AgNO3 is mixed with NaCl. The equation shows that the
reactants (AgNO3 and NaCl) react through some process (--->) to form the
products (AgCl and NaNO3). Since they undergo a chemical process, they are
changed fundamentally.
Often chemical equations are written showing the state that each substance is in.
The (s) sign means that the compound is a solid. The (l) sign means the
substance is a liquid. The (aq) sign stands for aqueous in water and means the
compound is dissolved in water. Finally, the (g) sign means that the compound is
a gas.
Coefficients are used in all chemical equations to show the relative amounts of
each substance present. This amount can represent either the relative number of
molecules, or the relative number of moles (described below). If no coefficient is
shown, a one (1) is assumed.
On some occasions, a variety of information will be written above or below the
arrows. This information, such as a value for temperature, shows what conditions
need to be present for a reaction to occur. For example, in the graphic below, the
notation above and below the arrows shows that we need a chemical Fe2O3, a
temperature of 1000° C, and a pressure of 500 atmospheres for this reaction to
occur.
The graphic below works to capture most of the concepts described above:
The Mole

Given the equation above, we can tell the number of moles of reactants and
products. A mole simply represents Avogadro's number (6.022 x 1023) of
molecules. A mole is similar to a term like a dozen. If you have a dozen carrots,
you have twelve of them. Similarly, if you have a mole of carrots, you have
6.022 x 1023 carrots. In the equation above there are no numbers in front
of the terms, so each coefficient is assumed to be one (1). Thus, you have the
same number of moles of AgNO3, NaCl, AgCl, NaNO3.

Converting between moles and grams of a substance is often important. This

conversion can be easily done when the atomic and/or molecular mass of the
substance(s) are known. Given the atomic or molecular mass of a substance,
that mass in grams makes a mole of the substance. For example, calcium has an
atomic mass of 40 atomic mass units. So, 40 grams of calcium makes one mole,
80 grams makes two moles, etc.
Balancing Chemical Equations

Sometimes, however, we have to do some work before using the coefficients of

the element in the reactants equals the number of atoms of that same element in
the products. To do this we have to figure out the relative number of molecules of each term
expressed by the term's coefficient.

Balancing a simple chemical equation is essentially done by trial and error. There
are many different ways and systems of doing this, but for all methods, it is
important to know how to count the number of atoms in an equation. For example
we will look at the following term.
2Fe3O4

This term expresses two (2) molecules of Fe3O4. In each molecule of this
substance there are three (3) Fe atoms. Therefore in two (2) molecules of the
substance there must be six (6) Fe atoms. Similarly there are four (4) oxygen
atoms in one (1) molecule of the substance so there must be eight (8) oxygen
atoms in two (2) molecules.
Now let's try balancing the equation mentioned earlier:
Al + Fe3O4---> Al2O3+ Fe

Developing a strategy can be difficult, but here is one way of approaching a

problem like this.
1. Count the number of each atom on the reactant and on the product side.
2. Determine a term to balance first. When looking at this problem, it appears
that the oxygen will be the most difficult to balance so we'll try to balance
the oxygen first. The simplest way to balance the oxygen terms is:
Al + 3 Fe3O4---> 4 Al2O3+ Fe
Be sure to notice that the subscript times the coefficient will give the
number of atoms of that element. On the reactant side, we have a
coefficient of three (3) multiplied by a subscript of four (4), giving 12
oxygen atoms. On the product side, we have a coefficient of four (4)
multiplied by a subscript of three (3), giving 12 oxygen atoms. Now, the
oxygens are balanced.
3. Choose another term to balance. We'll choose iron, Fe. Since there are
nine (9) iron atoms in the term in which the oxygen is balanced we add a
nine (9) coefficient in front of the Fe. We now have:
Al +3 Fe3O4---> 4Al2O3+ 9Fe
4. Balance the last term. In this case, since we had eight (8) aluminum atoms
on the product side we need to have eight (8) on the reactant side so we
add an eight (8) in front of the Al term on the reactant side.
Now, we're done, and the balanced equation is:
8Al + 3Fe3O4 ---> 4Al2O3 + 9 Fe
Limiting Reagents

Sometimes when reactions occur between two or more substances, one reactant
runs out before the other. That is called the "limiting reagent". Often, it is
necessary to identify the limiting reagent in a problem.
Example: A chemist only has 6.0 grams of C2H2 and an unlimited supply of
oxygen and he desires to produce as much CO2 as possible. If she uses the
equation below, how much oxygen should she add to the reaction?

2C2H2(g) + 5O2(g) ---> 4CO2(g) + 2 H2O(l)

To solve this problem, it is necessary to determine how much oxygen should be

added if all of the reactants were used up (this is the way to produce the
maximum amount of CO2).
First, we calculate the number of moles of C2H2 in 6.0 g of C2H2. To be able to
calculate the moles we need to look at a periodic table and see that 1 mole of C
weighs 12.0 g and H weighs 1.0 g. Therefore we know that 1 mole of C2H2
weighs 26 g (2 × 12 grams + 2 × 1 gram).
1 mol C2H2
6.0 g C2H2 x = 0.25 mol C2H2
(24.0 + 2.0)g C2H2

Or n = m/Mr
+ 6?26
=0.23 mol
Then, because there are five (5) molecules of oxygen to every two (2) molecules
of C2H2, we need to multiply the result by 5/2 to get the total molecules of oxygen.
Then we convert to grams to find the amount of oxygen that needs to be added:
2 mo C2H2 react with = 5 mol O2
0.25 = x
x = 0.625 mol
m=n x Mr
= 0.625 x 32
= 20 g

5 mol O2 32.0 g O2
0.25 mol C2H2 x x = 20 g O2
2 mol C2H2 1 mol O2
Percent Composition

It is possible to calculate the mole ratios (also called mole fractions) between
terms in a chemical equation when given the percent by mass of products or
reactants.

percentage by mass = mass of part/ mass of whole

There are two types of percent composition problems-- problems in which you
are given the formula (or the weight of each part) and asked to calculate the
percentage of each element and problems in which you are given the
percentages and asked to calculate the formula.

In percent composition problems, there are many possible solutions. It is always

possible to double the answer. For example, CH and C2H2 have the same
proportions, but they are different compounds. It is standard to give compounds
in their simplest form, where the ratio between the elements is as reduced as it
can be-- called the empirical formula. When calculating the empirical formula
from percent composition, one can convert the percentages to grams. For
example, it is usually the easiest to assume you have 100 g so 54.3% would
become 54.3 g. Then we can convert the masses to moles; this gives us mole
ratios. It is necessary to reduce to whole numbers. A good technique is to divide
all the terms by the smallest number of moles. Then the ratio of the moles can be
transferred to write the empirical formula.
Example: If a compound is 47.3% C (carbon), 10.6% H (hydrogen) and 42.0% S
(sulfur), what is its empirical formula?

To do this problem we need to transfer all of our percents to masses. We

assume that we have 100 g of this substance. Then we convert to moles:
47.3 grams 1 mole
Carbon: x = 3.94 moles
1 12.01 grams

10.6 grams 1 mole

Hyrdrogen: x = 10.52 moles
1 1.008 grams

42.0 grams 1 mole

Sulfur: x = 1.310 moles
1 32.07 grams
Now we try to get an even ratio between the elements so we divide by the
number of moles of sulfur, because it is the smallest number:
3.94
Carbon: =3
1.310

10.52
Hydrogen: =8
1.310

1.310
Sulfur: =1
1.310

So we have: C3H8 S
Example: Figure out the percentage by mass of hydrogen sulfate, H2SO4.
In this problem we need to first calculate the total mass of the compound by
looking at the periodic table. This gives us:
2(1.008) + 32.07 + 4(16.00) g/mol = 98.09 g/mol
Now, we need to take the weight fraction of each element over the total mass
(which we just found) and multiply by 100 to get a percentage.

2(1.008) 2.016
hydrogen: = = 0.0206 x 100 = 2.06%
98.09 98.09

32.07
sulfur: = 0.327 x 100 = 32.7%
98.09

4(16.00) 64.00
oxygen: = = 0.652 x 100 = 65.2%
98.09 98.09

Now, we can check that the percentages add up to 100%

65.2 + 2.06 + 32.7 = 99.96

This is essentially 100 so we know that everything has worked, and we probably
have not made any careless errors.
So the answer is that H2SO4 is made up of 2.06% H, 32.7% S, and 65.2% O by
mass.

Empirical Formula and Molecular Formula

While the empirical formula is the simplest form of a compound, the molecular
formula is the form of the term as it would appear in a chemical equation. The
empirical formula and the molecular formula can be the same, or the molecular
formula can be any positive integer multiple of the empirical formula. Examples of
empirical formulas: AgBr, Na2S, C6H10O5. Examples of molecular formulas: P2,
C2O4, C6H14S2, H2, C3H9.

One can calculate the empirical formula from the masses or percentage
composition of any compound. We have already discussed percent composition
in the section above. If we only have mass, all we are doing is essentially
eliminating the step of converting from percentage to mass.
Example: Calculate the empirical formula for a compound that has 43.7 g P
(phosphorus) and 56.3 grams of oxygen. First we convert to moles:

43.7 grams P 1 mol

x = 1.41 moles
1 30.97 grams

56.3 grams O 1 mol

x = 3.52 moles
1 16.00 grams

Next we divide the moles to try to get an even ratio.

1.41
Phosphorus: = 1.00
1.41

3.52
Oxygen: = 2.50
1.41

When we divide, we did not get whole numbers so we must multiply by two (2).
The answer = P2O5
Calculating the molecular formula once we have the empirical formula is easy. If
we know the empirical formula of a compound, all we need to do is divide the
molecular mass of the compound by the mass of the empirical formula. It is also
possible to do this with one of the elements in the formula; simply divide the
mass of that element in one mole of compound by the mass of that element in
the empirical formula. The result should always be a natural number.
Example: if we know that the empirical formula of a compound is HCN and we
are told that 2.016 grams of hydrogen are necessary to make the compound,
what is the molecular formula? In the empirical formula hydrogen weighs 1.008
grams. Dividing 2.016 by 1.008 we see that the amount of hydrogen needed is
twice as much. Therefore the empirical formula needs to be increased by a factor
of two (2). The answer is:
H2C2N2.
Density

Density refers to the mass per unit volume of a substance. It is a very common
term in chemistry.

Concentrations of Solutions

The concentration of a solution is the "strength" of a solution. A solution typically

refers to the dissolving of some solid substance in a liquid, such as dissolving
salt in water. It is also often necessary to figure out how much water to add to a
solution to change it to a specific concentration.

The concentration of a solution is typically given in molarity. Molarity is defined as

the number of moles of solute (what is actually dissolved in the solution) divided
by the volume in liters of solution (the total volume of what is dissolved and what
it has been dissolved in).
c = n/v(dm3)
moles of solute
[Concentration] Molarity =
litres of solution

Molarity is probably the most commonly used term because measuring a volume
of liquid is a fairly easy thing to do.
Example: If 5.00 g of NaOH are dissolved in 5000 ml of water, what is the
molarity of the solution?
One of our first steps is to convert the amount of NaOH given in grams into
moles:
5.00g NaOH 1 mole
x = 0.125 moles
1 (22.9 + 16.00 + 1.008)g

Now we simply use the definition of molarity: moles/litres to get the answer
-3
Molarity = 0.125 moles = 0.025 mol/dm
 5.00 dm-3 of soln

So the molarity (M) of the solution is 0.025 mol/dm-3

Molality is another common measurement of concentration. Molality is defined as
moles of solute divided by kilograms of solvent (the substance in which it is
dissolved, like water).
moles of solute
Molality =
kg of solvent

Molality is sometimes used in place of molarity at extreme temperatures because

the volume can contract or expand.
Example: If the molality of a solution of C2H5OH dissolved in water is 1.5 and the
mass of the water is 11.7 kg, figure out how much C2H5OH must have been
added in grams to the solution.

Our first step is to substitute what we know into the equation. Then we try to
solve for what we don't know: moles of solute. Once we know the moles of solute
we can look at the periodic table and figure out the conversion from moles to
grams.
moles solute
Molality =
kg solvent

Now we simply use the definition of molarity: moles/liters to get the answer
moles solute
Molality =
kg solvent

moles solute
mols
1.5 =
kg
11.7 kg

moles
1.5 x 11.7 kg = 17.55 moles
kg

17.55 moles (2 x 12.01) + (6 x 1.008) + 16

x = 808.5 g C2H5OH
1 1 moles
It is possible to convert between molarity and molality. The only information
needed is density.
Example: If the molarity of a solution is 0.30 M, calculate the molality of the
solution knowing that the density is 3.25 g/mL.
To do this problem we can assume one (1) liter of solution to make the numbers
easier. We need to get from the molarity units of mol/L to the molality units of
mol/kg. We work the problem as follows, remembering that there are 1000 mL in
a Liter and 1000 grams in a kg. This conversion will only be accurate at small
molarities and molalities.

0.3 mol 1 mL 1L 1000 g

x x x = 0.09 mols / kg
1L 3.25 g 1000 mL 1 kg

It is also possible to calculate colligative properties, such as boiling point

depression, using molality. The equation for temperature depression or
expansion is
ΔT= Kf × m

Where:
ΔT is temperature depression (for freezing point) or temperature expansion (for
boiling point) (°C)
Kf is the freezing point constant (kg °C/mol)
m is molality in mol/kg
Example: If the freezing point of the salt water put on roads is -5.2° C, what is the
molality of the solution? (The Kf for water is 1.86 °C/m.)
This is a simple problem where we just plug in numbers into the equation. One
piece of information we do have to know is that water usually freezes at 0° C.
ΔT = Kf * m
ΔT/Kf = m
m = 5.2/1.86
m = 2.8 mols/kg

Moles and stoichiometry practice problems (from Chapter 3 in Brady, Russell,

and Holum’s Chemistry, Matter and its Changes, 3rd Ed.)

Concept of mole/molar ratio

1) 1) How many moles of sodium atoms correspond to 1.56x1021 atoms of

sodium?
2) 2) How many moles of Al atoms are needed to combine with 1.58 mol of O
atoms to make aluminum oxide, Al2O3?

3) 3) How many moles of Al are in 2.16 mol of Al2O3?

4) 4) Aluminum sulfate, Al2(SO4)3, is a compound used in sewage treatment

plants.
a. a. Construct a pair of conversion factors that relate moles of
aluminum to moles of sulfur for this compound
b. b. Construct a pair of conversion factors that relate moles of sulfur
to moles of Al2(SO4)3
c. c. How many moles of Al are in a sample of this compound if the
sample also contains 0.900 mol S?
d. d. How many moles of S are in 1.16 mol Al2(SO4)3?

5) 5) How many moles of H2 and N2 can be formed by the decomposition of

0.145 mol of ammonia, NH3?

6) 6) What is the total number of atoms in 0.260 mol of glucose, C6H12O6?

7) 7) What is the mass of 1.00 mol of each of the following elements?

 a. a. Sodium
b. b. Sulfur
c. c. Chlorine

8) 8) Determine the mass in grams of each of the following:

a. a. 1.35 mol Fe
b. b. 24.5 mol O
c. c. 0.876 mol Ca
d. d. 1.25 mol Ca3(PO4)2
e. e. 0.625 mol Fe(NO3)3
f. f. 0.600 mol C4H10
g. g. 1.45 mol (NH4)2CO3

9) 9) Calculate the number of moles of each compound:

a. a. 21.5 g CaCO3
b. b. 1.56 g NH3
c. c. 16.8 g Sr(NO3)2
d. d. 6.98 g Na2CrO4

Percent composition and empirical formulas

10)10) Calculate the percentage composition by mass of each element in the

following compounds:
a. a. NaH2PO4
b. b. NH4H2PO4
c. c. (CH3)2CO

11)11) Phencyclidine is C17H25N. A sample suspected of being this illicit drug was
found to have a percentage composition of 83.71% C, 10.42% H, and 5.61%
N. Do these data acceptably match the theoretical data for phencyclidine?

12)12) How many grams of O are combined with 7.14x1021 atoms of N in the
compound N2O5?

13)13) Quantitative analysis of a sample of sodium pertechnetate with a mass of

0.896g found 0.111g Na and 0.477g technetium (Tc). The remainder was
oxygen. Calculate the empirical formula of sodium pertechnetate, NaxTcyOz.

14)14) A substance was found to be composed of 22.9% Na, 21.5% B, and

55.7% O. What is the empirical formula of this compound?

15)15) When 0.684 g of an organic compound containing only C, H, and O was

burned in oxygen 1.312g CO2 and 0.805g H2O were obtained. What is the
empirical formula of the compound?
Balancing equations

16)16) Write the equation that expresses in acceptable chemical shorthand the
following statement: “Iron can be made to react with molecular oxygen (O2) to
give iron oxide with the formula Fe2O3”

17)17) Balance the following reactions:

a. a. Ca(OH)2 + HCl  CaCl2 + H2O
b. b. AgNO3 + CaCl2  Ca(NO3)2 +AgCl
c. c. Fe2O3 + C  Fe + CO3
d. d. NaHCO3 + H2SO4  Na2SO4 + H2O + CO2
e. e. C4H10 + O2  CO2 +H2O
f. f. Mg(OH)2 + HBr  MgBr2 + H2O
g. g. Al2O3 + H2SO4  Al2(SO4)3 + H2O
h. h. KHCO3 + H3PO4  K2HPO4 + H2O + CO2
i. i. C9H10O + O2  CO2 + H2O

Stoichiometry/limiting reactants

18)18) Chlorine is used by textile manufacturers to bleach cloth. Excess chlorine

is destroyed by its reaction with sodium thiosulfate, Na2S2O3:
Na2S2O3(aq) + 4Cl2(g) + 5H2O(aq)  2NaHSO4(aq) + 8HCl(aq)
a. a. How many moles of Na2S2O3 are needed to react with 0.12mol of
Cl2?
b. b. How many moles of HCl can form from 0.12mol of Cl2?
c. c. How many moles of H2O are required for the reaction of 0.12mol of
Cl2?
d. d. How many moles of H2O react if 0.24mol HCl is formed?

19)19) The incandescent white of a fireworks display is caused by the reaction of

phosphorous with O2 to give P4O10.
a. a. Write the balanced chemical equation for the reaction.
b. b. How many grams of O2 are needed to combine with 6.85g of P?
c. c. How many grams of P4O10 can be made from 8.00g of O2?
d. d. How many grams of P are needed to make 7.46g P4O10?

20)20) In dilute nitric acid, HNO3, copper metal dissolves according to the
following equation:
3Cu(s) + 8HNO3(aq)  3Cu(NO3)2(aq) + 2NO(g) + 4H2O(aq)
How many grams of HNO3 are needed to dissolve 11.45g of Cu?

21)21) The reaction of powdered aluminum and iron(II)oxide,

2Al(s) + Fe2O3(s)  Al2O3(s) + 2Fe(l)
produces so much heat the iron that forms is molten. Because of this,
railroads use the reaction to provide molten steel to weld steel rails together
when laying track. Suppose that in one batch of reactants 4.20mol Al was
mixed with 1.75mol Fe2O3.
 a. a. Which reactant, if either, was the limiting reactant?
b. b. Calculate the mass of iron (in grams) that can be formed from this
mixture of reactants.

22)22) Silver nitrate, AgNO3, reacts with iron(III) chloride, FeCl3, to give silver
chloride, AgCl, and iron(III) nitrate, Fe(NO3)3. A solution containing 18.0g
AgNO3 was mixed with a solution containing 32.4g FeCl3. How many grams of
which reactant remains after the reaction is over?

Theoretical and percent yield

23)23) Barium sulfate, BaSO4, is made by the following reaction:

Ba(NO3)2(aq) + Na2SO4(aq)  BaSO4(s) + 2NaNO3(aq)
An experiment was begun with 75.00g of Ba(NO3)2 and an excess of Na2SO4.
After collecting and drying the product, 63.45g BaSO4 was obtained. Calculate
the theoretical yield and percent yield of BaSO4.

24)24) Aluminum sulfate can be made by the following reaction:

2AlCl3(aq) + 3H2SO4(aq)  Al2(SO4)3(aq) + 6HCl(aq)
It is quite soluble in water, so to isolate it the solution has to be evaporated to
dryness. This drives off the volatile HCl, but the residual solid has to be
treated to a little over 200C to drive off all the water. In one experiment,
25.0g of AlCl3 was mixed with 30.0g H2SO4. Eventually, 28.46g of pure
Al2(SO4)3 was isolated. Calculate the percent yield.

Answers

1) 2.59x103mol Na atoms
2) 1.05mol Al
3) 4.32mol Al
4) a. 2mol Al/3mol S b. 3mol S/1mol Al2(SO4)3
c. 0.600mol Al d. 3.48mol S
5) 0.0725mol N2 and 0.218mol H2
6) 3.76x1024 atoms
7) a. 23.0g Na b. 32.1g S c. 35.3g Cl
8) a. 75.4g Fe b. 392g O c. 35.1g Ca d. 388g Ca3(PO4)2
e. 151g Fe(NO3)2 f. 34.9g C4H10 g. 139g (NH4)2CO3
9) a. 0.215mol b. 0.0916mol c. 0.0794mol d. 4.31x108mol
10) a. 19.2% Na, 1.68% H, 25.8% P, 53.3% O
b. 12.2% N, 5.26% H, 26.9% P, 55.6%O
c. 62.0% C, 10.4% H, 27.6% O
11) Theoretical data (83.89% C, 10.35% H, 5.76% N) are consistent with
experimental results.
12) 0.474g O
13) NaTcO4
14) Na2B4O7
15) C2H6O
16) 4Fe + 3O2  2Fe2O3
17)
 a. a. Ca(OH)2 + 2HCl  CaCl2 + 2H2O
b. b. 2AgNO3 + CaCl2  Ca(NO3)2 + 2AgCl
c. c. 2Fe2O3 + 3C  4Fe + 3CO3
d. d. 2NaHCO3 + H2SO4  Na2SO4 + 2H2O + 2CO2
e. e. 2C4H10 + 13O2  8CO2 + 10H2O
f. f. Mg(OH)2 + 2HBr  MgBr2 + 2H2O
g. g. Al2O3 + 3H2SO4  Al2(SO4)3 + 3H2O
h. h. 2KHCO3 + H3PO4  K2HPO4 + 2H2O + 2CO2
i. i. C9H10O + 14O2  9CO2 + 10H2O
18) a. 0.030mol Na2S2O3 b. 0.24mol HCl c. 0.15mol H2O
d. 0.15mol H2O
19) a. 4P + 5O2  P4O10 b. 8.85g O2 c. 14.2g P4O10 d. 3.26g P
20) 30.31g HNO3
21) a. limiting reactant is Fe2O3 b. 195g Fe is formed
22) 26.7g of FeCl3 are left over
23) theoretical yield = 66.98g BaSO4, % yield = 94.73%
24) % yield = 88.74%