Can subcripts be altered in order to balance equations?

Question

Can subcripts be altered in order to balance equations?

Answer 1

NO!!

Subscripts are what define the formulas of the entities that are reacting.

The object in balancing an equation is to figure out the proper ratio of the reactants and products in the process, not to change their identities.

Balancing only works with changing the 'multipliers', not the subscripts!  

Answer 2

NO No NO!! You can only add coefficients  

Answer 3

Absolutely not!  The subscripts determine the identity of the compounds involved in the reaction.  Change the subscripts and you change the chemicals.

If you were balancing the equation for a reaction which involved water, and changed the formula to H2O2, then you have changed the water to hydrogen peroxide, an entirely different substance.

The only values that you can change while balancing an equation are the coefficients, the numbers in front of the formula of a substance.