8th grade Science

Chemical formulas and equations

 Compounds and bonding
• Compound-a substance that is composed of
atoms of 2 or more different elements
chemically combined

• Ex: NaCl—sodium chloride (salt)

• *sometimes the properties of the compound
are different than of the individual elements
 Chemical formula
• A chemical formula uses chemical symbols and
numbers to represent a given substance
• The chemical symbols in a chemical formula tell you
what elements make up a substance
• Subscripts—numbers written below and to the right
of chemical symbols. They tell how many of each type
of atom are in a molecule
• Coefficients-large numbers in front of chemical
formulas They tell how many of each compound you
have
 Chemical equations
• A chemical equation is an expression that
uses symbols to show the relationship
between the starting substances and the
substances produced by a chemical reaction
• Reactants—substances that begin the
reaction (always on left side of the arrow)
• Products—substances formed by the reaction
(always on right side of the arrow)
 Chemical equations
• Arrows-known as a yield sign points from the
reactant to the product

• Law of Conservation of Mass: states matter is neither

created nor destroyed in ordinary chemical and
physical changes.
• Because of this law, we can BALANCE equations (what
is found on one side of the arrow in an equation must
be equal to the other side of the arrow
 Steps to Balancing Equations
• Identify the reactant
• Identify the product
• List the atoms present on the reactant side, one
under another
• List the atoms present on the product side, one
under another
• Count atoms on both sides-if numbers are equal,
the equation is balanced If not, ADD COEFFICIENTS
in front of atoms to balance the equations
 More balancing rules
• You cannot add coefficients in the middle of a
compound
• You cannot change subscript numbers-this
changes what the compound/molecule
actually is
• Pay attention to parentheses—(these apply
just like in math)