What is really the importance of balancing chemical equations?

Question

plsss..

Answer 1

Balancing chemical equations ensure that the amount of atoms present in the reactants equal the number of atoms you started with (note that while the number of molecules may change, the number of individual atoms remains the same).

e.g. O2 + 4H2 ---> 2H2O

This becomes important when we calculate stoichiometry questions where mole ratio's become significant.

For example, if I told you I had 35 grams of H2, and asked you how many moles of O2 I would if all the H2 were to react, how would you solve this problem? First you would calculate the mole of H2 required (i.e. n=m/M), and then you would multiply this value by 1/4 (from the mole ratio) to obtain the answer.