Trick to balance?

[105012653 1F]

Is there a more efficient way to balance out equations? I know the fundamentals of balancing it's just tedious sometimes. What's a trick in doing it faster?

[sharonvivianv]

Look for which elements are least present and begin placing those coefficients. If there is an odd number of elements for one, multiply by the fraction then cancel that out by multiplying the whole thing by the denominator. Remember that the stoichiometric coefficients should be whole numbers

[arina_m 1A]

I always try to find the element that has an odd coefficient and multiply it by the easiest way of making it even which is usually the number 2. I also try out different scenarios so if I've already placed the two there I look at the equation as a whole and try to balance the other elements if this really doesn't work I erase it and consider an alternative. Another thing you could try and look for is components that consist of only one element and that are isolated from others like O2 or H2 these are usually your helpers so try and attack the more complicated compounds first and save these for later as an easy way to balance your equation.

[204917020]

I usually make a table on each side of my reaction listing all the elements and how many of each there are for both reactants and products, from there you can see what you need to balance and you can balance the elements that occur only once first and balance elements that are in more than one molecule last.

[Jaquelinne Rodriguez-Lopez 1L]

a trick that I learned in high school was to make a chart, as such. I count all the number of elements there are in the unbalanced equation and I try to have both the R (reactants) and P (products) equal to each other in the chart. E is for the element. It is sort of like a puzzle to me, which is good because balancing equations become fun rather than tedious! you just have to keep track of what you multiply each element by and update your chart every time you multiply by a number.

E R P
C 1 1
H 8 2
O 6 5

[Sophie W]

A trick that has generally worked for me was to find a "unique" element that perhaps is only present in one product and one reactant and to balance that first, and then balance more "common" elements such as oxygen, hydrogen, etc. around that element!