BALANCING CHEMICAL EQUATIONS

for Advanced Chemistry

Special Science High School in Grade 10
Quarter 3/ Week 2
 FOREWORD

This self-learning kit will serve as a guide to help students

further understand chemical reactions and chemical
equations. Why do we need to study chemical equations
when they’re just a bunch of letters and numbers? By reading
and studying this module, students will understand why.
Student’s will recognize how important in writing and
balancing chemical equations are. Without further ado, let’s
start our journey in balancing equations.

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 OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
K: Define a chemical equation.

S: Write and balance a chemical equation.

A: Recognize the importance of chemical reaction in the human
body and the surroundings.

I. WHAT HAPPENED
PRE-TEST
Directions: Write and balance the equation for the following chemical
reaction. Write your answers in your notebook.
1. Ammonia gas plus oxygen gas yields nitrogen monoxide gas plus
water vapor.
2. Aqueous sodium hydroxide and carbon dioxide gas yields sodium
carbonate solution and liquid water.

II. WHAT I NEED TO KNOW

Discussion: Chemical equation plays an important role in

chemistry. It gives the information on the nature of both reactants and
products as well as their relative numbers present in a reaction.

Chemical Equation
It is the symbolic representation of a chemical reaction in the form
of symbols and formulas wherein the reactant entities are given on the
left-hand side and the products entities on the right-hand side.
In a chemical equation, the reactants are written on the left and
the products on the right. The relative numbers of both reactants and

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products are indicated by numbers written before the formula. These
numbers are called coefficients.

coefficient coefficient

CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O

reactants products

There are two reasons why we need to balance the number of

coefficients in a chemical equation. First, is to obey the Law of
Conservation of Mass that states that atoms are neither created nor
destroyed in any reaction. Thus, chemical equations must have an equal
number of atoms in both reactants and products.

For example, in the equation above, there are four hydrogen, four
oxygen, and one carbon in both the reactant and product sides. We
can therefore say that the equation is balanced.

Second reason is that balanced chemical equations, you can

predict the number of reactants needed and the amount of products
formed in a reaction. This is most important when conducting an
experiment on chemical reactions. So, how do we balance chemical
equations?

How to Balance a Chemical Equation:

Example 1: Reaction of ethanol with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and

water.

Step 1: Write the equation using the correct chemical formulas.

C2H5OH(l) + O2(g) → CO2(g) + H2O(g)

Step 2: Balance the equation with coefficients. Start with the most
complicated molecule.

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 C2H5OH(l) + O2(g) → 2 CO2(g) + H2O(g)
2 C atoms 2 C atoms

Step 3: Then pick the next element to balance until you’re done with all
the elements. Remember to only change the coefficients and not the
chemical formula of any of the reactant or product.

C2H5OH(l) + O2(g) → 2 CO2(g) + 3 H2O(g)

(5 + 1) H atoms (3 x 2) H atoms
atoms

C2H5OH(l) + 3 O2(g) → 2 CO2(g) + 3 H2O(g)

1 O atom 6 O atom (2 x 2) O atom 3 O atom

7 O atom 7 O atom

Step 4: Do a final check and count the atoms on each sife of the
equation.
C2H5OH(l) + 3 O2(g) → 2 CO2(g) + 3 H2O(g)
2 C atom 2 C atom
6 H atoms 6 H atoms
7 O atoms 7 O atoms

Example 2: Methane burns in air to produce carbon dioxide gas and

water vapor

Step 1:

CH4(g) + O2(g) → CO2(g) + H2O(g)

Step 2:

CH4(g) + O2(g) → CO2(g) + 2 H2O(g)

4 H atoms (2 x 2) H atoms
Step 3:

CH4(g) + 2 O2(g) → CO2(g) + 2 H2O(g)

(2 x 2) O atoms 2 O atoms 2 O atoms

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4 O atoms
 Step 4:

Activity 1CH4(g) + 2 O2(g) → CO2(g) + 2 H2O(g)

Directions: Balance the equation
1 C atom by providing the
1 C atom
4 H atoms 4 H atoms
missing coefficients.
4 O atoms 4 O atoms
____Na(s) + ____H2O(l) → ____NaOH(aq) + ____H2(g)

III. WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

POST TEST
I. Directions: Choose the best answer. Write your answers in your notebook.
1. In balancing chemical equations, what do you call the numbers written
before the chemical formula?
A. Product B. Reactant C. Coefficients D. Subscript
2. Where can we find the reactants in a chemical equation?
A. Center B. Right side C. Left side D. Above
3. Which of the following statement about atoms is correct?
A. Atoms are created and destroyed in a chemical reaction.
B. Atoms are neither created nor destroyed.
C. Atoms are created when another atom is destroyed.
D. Atoms are unreactive and are destroyed in a reaction.
4. In a balanced equation, there are 6 oxygen and 4 hydrogen present in the
reactant side. How many oxygen and hydrogen are in the product side?
A. The number of oxygen and hydrogen stays the same.
B. Half the number of oxygen and hydrogen.
C. Twice the number of oxygen and hydrogen.
D. Nothing is left after the reaction.
5. Which of the following equation is balanced?
A. CaCO3 → CaO + CO2 C. CaCO3 → 2CaO + 3CO2
B. 2CaCO3 → 2 CaO + 2 CO2 D. 3CaCO3 → 3CaO + 2CO2

II. Directions: Balance the following chemical equation. Write your answers
in your notebook.
1. ___C4H10O + ___O2 → ___CO2 + ___H2O
2. ___FeI 2 + ___Cl2 → ___FeCl3 + ___I 2
3. ___H2 + ___O2 → ___H2O
4. ___Ca + ___HCl → ___CaCl2 + ___H2
5. ___Al + ___O2 → ___Al2O3

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 REFERENCES
Brown, T., Lemay, H., Bursten, B., Murphy, C., & Woodward, P.
(2012). Chemistry the Central Science (12th ed). USA:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
Silberberg, M., & Amateis, P. (2012). Chemistry: The Molecular
Nature of Matter and Change (7th ed). 2 Penn Plaza,
New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Smith, J. (2010). General, Organic, & Biological Chemistry (1st
ed). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Stoker, S. (2010). General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry
(5th ed). Belmont, CA: Cengage learning.
Zumdahl, S., & Zumdahl, S. (2007). Chemistry (7th ed). USA:
Houghton Mifflin Company.

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 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF NEGROS ORIENTAL

SENEN PRISCILLO P. PAULIN, CESO V

Schools Division Superintendent

FAY C. LUAREZ, TM, Ed.D., Ph.D.

OIC - Assistant Schools Division Superintendent
Acting CID Chief

NILITA L. RAGAY, Ed.D.

OIC - Assistant Schools Division Superintendent

ROSELA R. ABIERA
Education Program Supervisor – (LRMDS)

ARNOLD R. JUNGCO
PSDS – Division Science Coordinator

MARICEL S. RASID
Librarian II (LRMDS)

ELMAR L. CABRERA
PDO II (LRMDS)

ALAIZA MARI K. CAINO

Writer

ALAIZA MARI K. CAINO

LEONREY L. VAILOCES
Illustrators/Lay-out Artists
_________________________________

ALPHA QA TEAM
ALLAN Z. ALBERTO
SEGUNDINO B. DELES, JR.
MANASSES V. JABALDE
VERONICA A. RECTO
BETA QA TEAM
ALLAN Z. ALBERTO
SEGUNDINO B. DELES, JR.
MANASSES V. JABALDE
VERONICA A. RECTO
DISCLAIMER

The information, activities and assessments used in this material are designed to provide
accessible learning modality to the teachers and learners of the Division of Negros Oriental. The
contents of this module are carefully researched, chosen, and evaluated to comply with the set
learning competencies. The writers and evaluator were clearly instructed to give credits to
information and illustrations used to substantiate this material. All content is subject to copyright and
may not be reproduced in any form without expressed written consent from the division.

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SYNOPSIS AND ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chemical equations are
an integral part in 5. 4 Al + 3 O2 → 2 Al2O3

chemical reactions. It
4. Ca + 2 HCl → CaCl2 + H2
3. 2 H2 + O2 → 2 H2O
helps us predict the 2. 2 FeI2 + 3 Cl2 → 2 FeCl3 + 2 I2

number of reactants 1. C4H10O + 6 O2 → 4 CO2 + 5 H2O

II.
needed and product 5. A
4. B
formed in a reaction. It 3. B
also gives us information
2. C
1. C
on the identities of both I.
POST-TEST
reactants and products.
2 Na(s) + 2 H2O(l) → 2 NaOH(aq) + H2(g)
Balancing these Activity 1

chemical equations is a H2O(l) (unbalanced)

must for us to fully

+ 2. NaOH(aq) + CO2(g) → Na2CO3(aq)
(unbalanced)
understand what happens H2O(g) + NO(g) → O2(g) + 1. NH3(g)
PRE-TEST
in a chemical reaction. ANSWER KEY:

ALAIZA MARI K. CAINO, is a graduate of Bachelor

of Science in Chemistry at Negros Oriental State
University. She is a licensed chemist and a
licensed chemical technician. She is currently a
Special Science Teacher in Manjuyod Science
High School. She is also completing her course in
Certificate of Proficiency in Teacher Education
at La Consolacion College.