Chapter 19.1, Problem 8R

To determine

Toexplain:sum of the coefficient on the reactant side of a balance equation doesn’t have to equal the sum of the coefficient on the product side of the equation.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

The chemical formula is a way to describe any chemical material by describing its elements. Balanced equations are a kind of reaction where coefficients in reactant and product will be the same.

In a balanced reaction, sum of the confident on reactant side are not equal to the sum of the coefficient of product side.

For example, take a balance equation as follows:

  $\text{3Fe}\left(\text{s}\right){\text{+4H}}_{\text{2}}\text{O}\left(\text{l}\right)\to {\text{Fe}}_{\text{3}}{\text{O}}_{\text{4}}\left(\text{s}\right){\text{+4H}}_{\text{2}}\left(\text{g}\right)$

Sum of the coefficient on reactant side is

Sum of the coefficient is 3+4 = 7.

Sum of the coefficient on product side is

Sum of the coefficient is 1+4 = 5.

Here, sum of the coefficient on reactant side (7) are not equal to the sum of the coefficient on product side (5), because subscript of atoms are not counted.

If it is counted in subscripts, then coefficient may differ.