Why does a chemical equation have to be balanced?

Answer 1

Balancing Chemical Equations is absolutely essential if you want to determine quantities of reactants or products. An unbalanced chemical equation gives only the identify of the beginning reactants and the final products using the appropriate formulas as well as the conditions of temperature, physical state, and pressure conditions under which the reaction is to operate under.

However an unbalanced equation can say nothing about the quantities involved until the equation has been balanced. A balanced equation assures that the conservation law of matter is obeyed. The total mass of reactants must equal the total mass of products. A balanced equation tells you the proportional quantities of each substance involved.

Answer 2

This is one of the funadmental laws of chemical reactivity. As you may already know, both energy and matter cannot be destroyed; this means that reactant in a given reaction have a set number of particles (atoms). The number of particles that will be found on the other side of the equation (the products) has to conatin the same number of particles or atoms because of the fact that matter cannot simply be destroyed as such.

Balancing an equation simply means that you recalibrate the values of the product molecules that have been created.

Answer 3

i can answer this question. must be balancing equations is important.

many people have asked "how does Jonathan do it?"

likewise, "why is copper blue?"

you can practice with this simple reaction

C30H46O3 (moronic acid) + C4H5As (arsole) = ?

for more fun with reactions, ask ms. dwelley.

fun fact: did you know that you will die someday?

Answer 4

Balancing a chemical equation upholds the law of conservation of matter, which says that matter may neither be created nor destroyed. The number of atoms of the reactants must equal the number of atoms of the products, even though they will be arranged differently. Applying whole-number mole ratio coefficients when needed will balance the equation successfully.

Also note: not only do you end up with the same number of atoms after the reaction that you had before the reaction, but in a chemical reaction there is no transmutation of elements (unlike a nuclear reaction) and you will have the same number of atoms of each specific element at the end, as you have at the beginning. If you start with (for example) four oxygen atoms, you will still have four oxygen atoms when the reaction is over, although those atoms may be in different molecules than they were previously. So if you write a chemical equation and there are four oxygen atoms on the left, and five on the right, you will have to explain where the extra oxygen atom came from.

Answer 5

According to the "LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS" mass of atoms or molecules in the reactant side should be equal to that in the product side. So a chemical equation have to be balanced...

Answer 6

As no chemical equations create or destroy new molecules, both sides need to be balanced to show the same amount of each element is on either side of the equation.

Answer 7

law of conservation of matter = matter cannot be created or destroyed

Answer 8

Because if they did not matter would have to be created or destroyed and the universe will not allow that.