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General Rules for Balancing Equations
1. Only change the coefficients. Never change the subscripts.
2. If there are elements in parentheses: To find the number of atoms of each element, multiply coefficient × subscript
inside parentheses × subscript outside parentheses.
Given: 2(F4O)3
What is the number of F atoms?
2 (coefficient) × 4 (subscript inside parentheses) × 3 (subscript outside parentheses)= 24 F atoms
3. The coefficient applies to the entire molecule.
3H2O means that there are three molecules of H2O, which contain 6 H’s and 3 O’s.
Now that you got the basics, here some more points to keep in mind for balancing harder equations.
UNIT 6: MATH IN CHEMISTRY © 226
