Balancing Chemical Equations

On August 22, 2016, the class of Mrs. Bulloch started an experiment learning how to balance chemical equations. Balancing chemical equations is where you take an equation with different elements or compounds and make sure everything is equal. The purpose of this experiment is to test the Law of Conservation of Matter (matter cannot be created or destroyed only change form). The experiment started out by getting the candy supplies. The candy would represent each atom that was given in the equation. We would then team up in pairs to solve the equations together. Throughout this experiment, however, we got confused on how the candy was used in the experiment, as well as on each equation would be solved. So the candy was later discarded and we focused on the main problem. Mrs. Bulloch helped the us on the first few problems so we could get the hang of it. She compared it to a cross-word puzzle, or Sudoku, it’s tricky at first but eventually it’ll come to you. It was then time to set off to work. The concept of balancing equations is to plug in the numbers until everything has reached a state of balance. So this is what we did during that class day. At first most students were confused because of the balancing but everyone eventually got it. The next day, Mrs. Bulloch put up some equations on the board and everyone could solve it. The end result was to prove the Law of Conservation of Matter. It did prove to be true because atoms were added, but the atoms never changed by structure. NaCl was still NaCl after it was multiplied twice, or was still oxygen even if it now looks like this. The element or compound was changed by quantity, not the makeup.