Balancing Chemical Equations Basics

There are five steps for this method.
1) Create a table under the chemical equation.
a) Create a column under the yield arrow and write the symbol for
each element.
2) Draw a line under each plus sign.
3) Write the number of each type of type of element in the column formed
4) Choose one element to balance at a time.
a) Change the coefficient to the substance of the element you are
balancing.
b) Multiply the coefficient for every number in the column
5) Repeat step 4 until each element is balanced.
a) You may need to repeat this for an element more than once.

​A Method for Balancing Equations

The next several slides will show an example of how to use this method to balance.

There are two examples of how it can be used.

​A Method for Balancing Equations

There is a special way that we can balance chemical equations when there are polyatomic ions that appear on both sides of the equation.

The next slides show how to deal with balancing chemical equations with polyatomic ions.

Balancing with Polyatomic Ions