Balancing Chemical Equations

A chemical equation must be balance in order for the chemical reaction to occur correctly. The number of atoms of each element must be the same in the reactants and products side. In the chemical equation the big number written to the left of the element is called the coefficient. The coefficient tells you the number of units of each substance involved in the chemical reaction. The little number written in the right of the element is called a subscript. The subscript tells you the number of total atoms of a given element.