What is the first step in balancing chemical equations?

• A. Write the formulas of the substances
• B. Count the number of atoms of each element on each side
• C. Adjust the coefficients
• D. Check that the atoms balance

Answer: (A)

Writing the formulas of the substances is the first step because you need an accurate skeleton of the reaction to know exactly what atoms are involved. If the formulas aren’t correct, any balancing you do later will be fixing the wrong quantities. Once the formulas are in place, you can count how many atoms of each element appear on both sides to see where the imbalance lies, then introduce coefficients to balance, and finally check that every element has the same number of atoms on both sides.