Name: __Danitza Rojas.

​Date: 1/22/22

Student Exploration: Chemical Equations

Vocabulary: Avogadro’s number, chemical equation, chemical formula, chemical reaction,

coefficient, combination, combustion, conservation of matter, decomposition, double
replacement, molar mass, mole, molecular mass, molecule, product, reactant, single
replacement, subscript

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. A candle is placed on one pan of a balance, and an equal weight is placed on the other pan.

What would happen if you lit up the candle and waited for a while? The balance will shift down
where the equal weight was put.

2. Suppose the candle was placed in a large, sealed jar that allowed it to burn for several
minutes before running out of oxygen. The candle and jar are balanced by an equal weight.

In this situation, what would happen if you lit up the candle and waited? It could stay the same if
none of the wax seeped out.

Gizmo Warm-up
Burning is an example of a chemical reaction. The law of conservation of matter states that no
atoms are created or destroyed in a chemical reaction. Therefore, a balanced chemical equation
will show the same number of each type of atom on each side of the equation.

To set up an equation in the Chemical Equations Gizmo, type the chemical formulas into the
text boxes of the Gizmo. First, type in “H2+O2” in the Reactants box and “H2O” in the Products
box. This represents the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen gas to form water.

1. Check that the Visual display is chosen on each side of the Gizmo, and count the atoms.

A. How many hydrogen atoms are on the Reactants side? 2____ Products side? 2____

B. How many oxygen atoms are on the Reactants side? _2___ Products side? _1___
2. Based on what you see, is this equation currently balanced? ______No_______

Activity A:

Interpreting chemical formulas

Get the Gizmo ready:
• Erase the chemical formulas in each text box.
• Check that the Visual displays are selected.

Introduction: To balance a chemical equation, you first need to be able to count how many
atoms of each element are on each side of the equation. In this activity, you will practice
counting the atoms that are represented in chemical formulas.

Question: How do we read chemical formulas?

1. Observe: Type “H2” into the Reactants box and hit Enter on your keyboard. Note that the
formula is shown as H2 below. The small “2” in H2 is a subscript.

A. What does the “2” in H2 represent? ______2 hydrogen atoms

B. In general, what do you think a subscript in a chemical formula tells you? How many atoms of
an element there are
C. Try typing in other subscripts next to the H, such as 3, 4, and 5. Is your answer to question B
still true? Explain. Yes, it is still showing the amount of atoms of hydrogen are in the chemical
formula

2. Count: Clear the Reactants box, and type in a more complex chemical formula: “Ca(OH)2.”
Look at the number of atoms shown.

A. How many of each type of atom do you see? Ca: _1____ O: _2__ H: _2_

B. In general, what happens when a subscript is found outside of parentheses?

It is to be applied to the elements found in the parentheses individually.

C. Try typing in other subscripts next to the (OH), such as 3, 4, and 5. Is your answer to
question B still true? Explain. B is still true, I had the same outcome.
3. Practice: For each of the real chemical formulas below, calculate how many of each element
there are. Check your answers for the first three formulas using the Gizmo.

AgCl3Cu2​​Ag: __1___​Cl: ___3__​Cu: __2___

Ba(AsO4)2​​Ba: __1___​As: __2___​O: 8___

(NH4)3PO4​​N: ___3__​H: _12____​P: __1___​O: ___4__

MnPb8(Si2O7)3​​Mn: ___1__​Pb: ___8__​Si: _6____​O: __21___

Activity B:

Balancing equations
Get the Gizmo ready:
• Erase the chemical formulas in each text box.

Introduction: In a chemical reaction, the reactants are the substances that enter into the
reaction, and the products are the substances that are made in the reaction. A chemical
reaction is balanced if the numbers of reactant atoms match the numbers of product atoms.

Goal: Learn to balance any chemical equation.

1. Observe: To model how hydrogen and oxygen react to make water, type “H2+O2” into the
Reactants box and “H2O” into the Products box.

As the equation is written, which element is not in balance? ________Oxygen

Explain: ________There are two oxygen atoms on the reactants side and only one on the
products side.

2. Balance: To balance a chemical equation, you are not allowed to change the chemical
formulas of the substances involved in the reaction. You are allowed to change the number of
molecules of each substance by adding coefficients in front of the formulas.

A. To balance the oxygen atoms, add a “2” in front of the “H2O” in the Products box.

How many oxygen atoms are found on each side of the equation now? ___2______

B. To balance the hydrogen atoms, add a “2” in front of the “H2” in the Reactants box.

How many hydrogen atoms are found on each side of the equation now? __2_______

C. Is this equation currently balanced? ____YES_____ Click Show if balanced to check.

3. Apply: Now enter a more complex chemical reaction: Ca(OH)2 + HBr à CaBr2 + H2O. List the
numbers of each element in the tables below:

Reactants
Ca
O
H
Br
1
2
3
1

Products
Ca
O
H
Br
1
1
2
2

A. Which elements are out of balance? _______Bromine, Oxygen, and

Hydrogen__________________

B. Add coefficients to balance first the bromine (Br) and then the hydrogen (H) atoms. When the
equation is balanced, write the complete formula below:
Ca(OH)2 + 2HBrà CaBr2 + 2H2O

Activity B (continued from previous page)

4. Practice: Chemical reactions are generally classified into five groups, defined below. Balance
each equation, using the Gizmo for help.

Combination (or synthesis) – two or more elements combine to form a compound.

• Na + O2 à Na2O​​_______ 2Na + O2à Na2O2

• La2O3 + H2O à La(OH)3​​La2O3 +H4Oà La2(OH)4​
• N2O5 + H2O à HNO3​​___ N2O5 + H2O à
2HNO3______________________________________

Decomposition – a compound breaks down into elements and/or simpler compounds.

• KNO3 à KNO2 + O2​​_________ KNO4 à KNO2 + O2

• NaN3 à Na + N2​__2 NaN3 à2 Na +3 N2________________________

• NH4NO3 à N2O + H2O​___ NH4NO3 à N2O + 2H2O​___

Combustion – a fuel reacts with oxygen to release carbon dioxide, water, and heat.

• CH4 + O2 à CO2 + H2O​_____ CH4 + 2O2 à CO2 + 2H2O

• C3H8 + O2 à CO2 + H2O​____ C3H8 +5O2 à 3CO2 + 4H2O___
• C6H12O6 + O2 à CO2 + H2O C6H12O6 +6 O2 à6 CO2 +6 H2O

Single replacement – an element replaces another element in a compound.

• KCl + F2 à KF + Cl2​____ 2KCl + F2 à 2KF + Cl2_______________________

• Mg + HCl à MgCl2 + H2 Mg + 2HCl à MgCl2 + H2

• Cu + AgNO3 à Cu(NO3)2 + Ag​___ Cu + 2AgNO3 à Cu(NO3)2 + 2Ag
__________________________________

Double replacement – two compounds switch parts with one another.

• AgNO3 + K2SO4 à Ag2SO4 + KNO3​_ 2AgNO3 + K2SO4 à Ag2SO4 + 2KNO3

• Mg(OH)2 + HCl à MgCl2 + H2O​​Mg(OH)2 + 2HCl à MgCl2 + 2H2O​

Al(OH)3 + H2SO4 à Al2(SO4)3 + H2O ​ 2 Al(OH)3 + 3H2SO4 à Al2(SO4)3 +6 H2O ​

Activity C:

Molar mass
Get the Gizmo ready:
• Erase the chemical formulas in each text box.
• In the middle menu, select Molar mass.
Introduction: Chemists are often interested in obtaining a certain mass of product from a
chemical reaction without wasting any reactants. But how is this done? To calculate the masses
of reactants needed for a desired mass of product, it is necessary to understand a unit of
quantity called the mole.

Question: How do chemists know how much of each substance to mix?

1. Observe: The mass of a molecule of a substance is its molecular mass (M). Molecular mass
is measured in universal mass units (u). One universal mass unit (1 u) is approximately the
mass of a proton. Hydrogen gas has a molecular mass of 2.0158 u.
​
A. Type the formula “H2” into the Reactants box. What is the molar mass of hydrogen gas, H2?
________2.0158_____
B. What is the relationship between the molecular mass and the molar mass of a substance?
_______________Molar mass is the average mass of a molecule and molecular mass is the
mass of an individual molecule______________________
A mole is defined as 6.0221415 × 1023 molecules (or atoms) of a substance. This value, called
Avogadro’s number, is special because a mole of a substance has a mass in grams that is
equal to the molecular mass of the substance. Moles are handy because a mole of one
substance contains the same number of particles as a mole of another substance.

2. Gather data: The balanced equation to synthesize water is: 2H2 + O2 à 2H2O. Use the
Gizmo to find the molar masses of each substance in this equation:

2H2 _4.03grams__​​O2 _31.999grams_________​​2H2O __36.03_____

​
3. Analyze: Based on the molar masses, how can you tell that an equation is balanced?

When the product and reactants weigh the same

4. Apply: Suppose you had one mole of oxygen (O2). How many moles of hydrogen (H2) would
react completely with the oxygen, and how many moles of H2O would be produced?

18.02 moles of H2O

Activity C (continued from previous page)

5. Calculate: Suppose you had 2.0158 grams of hydrogen (H2).

A. How many moles of hydrogen do you have? __2.0158___________________

B. How many moles of oxygen would react with this much hydrogen? 15.999__________

C. What mass of oxygen would you need for this reaction? 15.999 grams

D. How many grams of water would you produce? __18.02___________________

6. Challenge yourself: Suppose you wanted to make 100 grams of water.

A. What is the molar mass of water (H2O)? ____18.02_________________

B. How many moles of water are in 100 grams? ____5.55_________________

C. How many moles of hydrogen will you need? _____________________50

D. How many moles of oxygen will you need? _____________________6.25

E. How many grams of hydrogen and oxygen will you need?

Hydrogen: ___________2__________​Oxygen: _____________________16

F. Is your answer reasonable? Why or why not? _______________________________Yes,

because there are 16g of Oxygen in 100g of water making 6.25 moles, and 2g of Hydrogen in
100g of water making 50 moles.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

7. Summarize: Why is it useful to use moles to measure chemical quantities?

_______________To be absolutely sure the chemical equation is balanced. It may also be
more accurate.__________________________________________________________