Enter an equation of a chemical reaction and click 'Balance'. The answer will appear below
Always use the upper case for the first character in the element name and the lower case for the second character. Examples: Fe, Au, Co, Br, C, O, N, F. Compare: Co - cobalt and CO - carbon monoxide
To enter an electron into a chemical equation use {-} or e
To enter an ion, specify charge after the compound in curly brackets: {+3} or {3+} or {3}. Example: Fe{3+} + I{-} = Fe{2+} + I2
Substitute immutable groups in chemical compounds to avoid ambiguity. For instance equation C6H5C2H5 + O2 = C6H5OH + CO2 + H2O will not be balanced, but PhC2H5 + O2 = PhOH + CO2 + H2O will
Compound states [like (s) (aq) or (g)] are not required.
If you do not know what products are, enter reagents only and click 'Balance'. In many cases a complete equation will be suggested.
Reaction stoichiometry could be computed for a balanced equation. Enter either the number of moles or weight for one of the compounds to compute the rest.
Limiting reagent can be computed for a balanced equation by entering the number of moles or weight for all reagents. The limiting reagent row will be highlighted in pink.
Understanding limiting reagents
In a chemical reaction, the limiting reagent (or limiting reactant) is the reactant that is completely consumed first, thus limiting the amount of product that can be formed. Think of it like baking cookies: if you have enough flour for 100 cookies but only enough chocolate chips for 50 cookies, the chocolate chips are your limiting ingredient - you can only make 50 cookies.
To find the limiting reagent, you need to:
Convert all given quantities to moles
Divide the moles of each reactant by its coefficient in the balanced equation
The reactant with the smallest ratio is the limiting reagent
Use the limiting reagent to calculate the theoretical yield of products
Example equations for limiting reagent calculations:
