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The Language of Chemistry Equations using symbols and formulae We can use the chemical symbols and formulae to construct chemical equations for the reactions we have met in the tutorials. Example I :
The first step is to write the correct formulae:
The equation is not balanced. Have you noticed that there are two oxygen atoms on the reactants' side of the equation and only one on the products' side? Look at the image equation. You will see that we need two hydrogen sulphide molecules, two sulphur atoms and two water molecules. So we need to balance the equation. This is achieved by placing a whole number in front of the symbol or formula. Never try to balance the equation by changing a formula in some way.
Congratulations! You have written your first chemical equation using symbols and formulae. Before you work through some more examples just check again that you have the same number of each type of atom on both sides of the equation. Remember: "Matter can neither be created nor destroyed by chemical means" |
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