adding a product

[205192823]

When balancing equations, you're not able to just add an atom of something instead you're suppose to add more molecules of something right?

[DesireBrown1J]

You can only change the number of moles in the equation to balance it.

[salvadorramos3k]

Yes. So basically, you just have to adjust the stoichiometric coefficient that way both sides of the reaction have the same masses.

[205192823]

Thanks so much, I was just getting confused to whether it was the moles of something or the number of molecules of something.

[Nare Nazaryan 1F]

When balancing equations, you want to add stoichiometric coefficients to change the number of MOLES of the compound, not the molecules.

[Caitlin Ciardelli 3E]

According to the conservation of mass, no atom can be created nor destroyed in a reaction. This means that we cannot insert or remove any atom into a reaction as we please. What we can do however, is manipulate the whole numbers of moles (stoichiometric coefficients) to balance the equation out.

[Rhea Shah 2F]

The purpose of balancing chemical reactions is to ensure the conservation of mass, meaning atoms are not created or destroyed during a chemical reaction. Thus, you may only add stoichiometric coefficients to the front of each molecule in order to change the ratio of moles of each molecule. You cannot change the amount of a certain atom in a molecule.