CHAPTER 8

Writing Chemical Equations

© 2013 Marshall Cavendish International (Singapore) Private Limited

© 2014 Marshall Cavendish Education Pte Ltd
(Formerly known as Marshall Cavendish International (Singapore) Private Limited)
Chapter 8 Writing Chemical Equations

8.1 Chemical Equations

8.2 Ionic Equations

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8.1 Chemical Equations

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this section, you should be able to:

• interpret chemical equations with state symbols;

• write balanced chemical equations with state

symbols.

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8.1 Chemical Equations

What is a Chemical Equation?

A chemical equation shows what happens in a chemical
reaction. It tells us
• which reactants and products are involved in the reaction;
• the relative amounts of reactants and products;
• the physical states of the reactants and products of the
reaction.

Example:
sodium + chlorine → sodium chloride (word equation)
2 Na + Cl2 → 2 NaCl (chemical equation)
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8.1 Chemical Equations

Balancing a Chemical Equation

A balanced chemical equation must contain equal
numbers of atoms of each element on both sides of
the equation.
The reactant(s) are written on the The product(s) are written on the
left-hand side of the equation. right-hand side of the equation.

2H2(g) + O2(g) → 2H2O(l)

The state
The chemical equation is symbols
balanced by adding a number (s) – solid
in front of the chemical (g) – gas
formula. This is the same as (l) – liquid
multiplying the formula by that (aq) – aqueous
number. solution 5
8.1 Chemical Equations

Writing a Balanced Chemical Equation

Example: Reacting hydrogen and oxygen to get water

Step 1: Write down the chemical formulae of the reactants

and products to get the chemical equation.

H2 + O2 H2O

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8.1 Chemical Equations

Writing a Balanced Chemical Equation

Step 2: Check the number of atoms of each element in

the formulae on both sides of the equation. If the
equation is not balanced, proceed to step 3.

H2 + O2 H2O

Left-hand side Right-hand side

2 H atoms 2 H atoms
2 O atoms 1 O atom
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8.1 Chemical Equations

Writing a Balanced Chemical Equation

Step 3a: To balance the number of oxygen atoms,
put a ‘2’ in front of H2O. This means that
two molecules of water are formed.

H2 + O2 2H2O

The equation is still not balanced because there

are four hydrogen atoms on the right-hand side
and only two on the left-hand side.
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8.1 Chemical Equations

Writing a Balanced Chemical Equation

Step 3b: To balance the equation, we need to put a ‘2’ in

front of H2.

2H2 + O2 2H2O

Left-hand side Right-hand side

4 H atoms 4 H atoms
2 O atoms 2 O atoms
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8.1 Chemical Equations

Writing a Balanced Chemical Equation

Step 4: Add the state symbols to indicate the physical state
of each reactant and product.

State Symbol
Solid (s) 2H2(g) + O2(g) 2H2O(l)
Liquid (l)
Gas (g)
Aqueous (aq)

Aqueous means dissolved in water

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Chapter 8 Writing Chemical Equations

8.1 Chemical Equations

8.2 Ionic Equations

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Learning Outcome

At the end of this section, you should be able to:

• write ionic equations with state symbols.

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8.2 Ionic Equations

What is an Ionic Equation?

An ionic equation is a simplified chemical equation
that shows the reactions involving ions in aqueous
solution.

Spectator Ions
In chemical reactions, there are ions that do not
take part in the chemical reaction.

Such ions are called spectator ions.

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Writing an Ionic Equation

Let’s look at the reaction between hydrochloric acid
and sodium hydroxide.
hydrochloric acid + sodium hydroxide sodium chloride + water

HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) → NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)

H+(aq) + Cl–(aq) Na+(aq) + OH–(aq) Na+(aq) + Cl–(aq)

Na+(aq) and Cl–(aq) are spectator ions.

Removing them from the equation, we are left with:

H+(aq) + OH–(aq) → H2O(l)

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8.2 Ionic Equations

How to Write an Ionic Equation

Example: Reaction of hydrochloric acid

with sodium hydroxide
Step 1:
Write a balanced chemical equation including
state symbols.

HCl(aq) + NaOH(aq) → NaCl(aq) + H2O(l)

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8.2 Ionic Equations

How to Write an Ionic Equation

Step 2:
Rewrite the chemical equation in terms of ions.

H+(aq) + Cl–(aq) + Na+(aq) + OH–(aq)

HCl NaOH

+ H2O(l)

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Step 3:
Cancel out the spectator ions.

H+(aq) + Cl–(aq) + Na+(aq) + OH–(aq)

→ Na+(aq) + Cl–(aq) + H2O(l)

Step 4:
Write the ionic equation.
H+(aq) + OH–(aq) → H2O(l)

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Substances that do not ionise in solution:

• Insoluble solids (e.g metals, insoluble salts)

• Covalent liquids (such as water)
• Gases

Do not break them into ions when writing an ionic

equation. These substances should be written in
full, for example, H2O(l) and AgCl (s).

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Example:
Reaction of sodium chloride with silver nitrate solution

Step 1:
Write a balanced chemical equation including
state symbols.

NaCl(aq) + AgNO3(aq) → AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq)

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Step 2:
Rewrite the chemical equation in terms of ions.

Na+(aq) + Cl–(aq) + Ag+(aq) + NO3–(aq)

→ AgCl(s) + Na+(aq) + NO3–(aq)

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Step 3:
Cancel out the spectator ions.

Na+(aq) + Cl–(aq) + Ag+(aq) + NO3–(aq)

→ AgCl(s) + Na+(aq) + NO3– (aq)

Step 4:
Write the ionic equation.

Cl–(aq) + Ag+(aq) → AgCl(s)

Can you give another example of ionic precipitation?

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8.2 Ionic Equations

Aqueous silver Aqueous sodium Silver chloride

nitrate consists chloride consists precipitates
of Ag+ and NO3– of Na+ and Cl– as a white
ions. ions. solid.

Aqueous sodium nitrate consists of

Na+(aq) + NO3– (aq) which remained
URL
unchanged throughout the reaction. 22
Chapter 8 Writing Chemical Equations

Concept Map

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Chapter 8 Writing Chemical Equations

The URLs are valid as at 15 November 2014.

Acknowledgements
(slide 1) chemical reactions © Aushulz | Wikimedia Commons | CC BY 3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en)
(slide 22) © Marshall Cavendish International (Singapore)

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