Chemical reactions involves the chemical combination of two or more substances called REACTANTS to yield other substances called PRODUCTS. However, in accordance with the LAW OF CONSERVATION OF MASS, the amount of reactants must be equal to that of the products.
To accomplish this, the reaction must be BALANCED. A balanced equation is an equation in which the number of atoms of each element in the reactant side equals the number of atoms in the product side. In this reaction involving Aluminum and Oxygen to give Aluminum oxide as follows:
Al + 02 → Al2O3
A coefficient is used to balance the number of atoms on both sides of the equation as follows:
