Name______________________

Period ___________
Balancing Chemical Equations Using Models
Objective: Use models as a means for balancing chemical equations

Materials:
For each group of 2 students:
 Cup of skittles
 2 paper plates
 Lab sheets

Procedure
1. Label one plate reactants and the other products, to represent each side of a
chemical equation.

2. Use different colored skittles to represent the different kinds of atoms. For
example: red = sodium; yellow = oxygen. You will use the different colored
“atoms” to make models of the substances in each equation below. You may
have to change your color/element pattern for each individual equation. ALWAYS
MAKE A KEY TO SHOW WHICH COLOR REPRESENTS WHICH ELEMENT
FOR EACH EQUATION. USE COLORED PENCILS TO DRAW ACCURATE
MODELS!

Na Cl O H

Example: to balance the equation below, you will need to determine a skittle color
for each individual element:
H = yellow
Cl = blue
O= red
Na = green

___HCl + ____NaOH  ____NaCl + ____H2O

3. To create a compound, put the correct color skittles together to represent a

4. Count the number of atoms you have total for your products and for your reactants
BEFORE you attempt to balance the equation. Look for the same colors on the products
and reactants. Determine if you need to balance the equation by adding coefficients, by
 Name______________________
Period ___________
comparing the numbers for each atom on the reactant side with the product side.

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Na 1 Na 1
O 1 O 1
H 2 H 2
Cl 1 Cl 1

5. If you DO need to “balance” the equation, then add any coefficients as needed. Do not
change the formulas of the compounds (no changing the subscripts). For example:
Na2O should not change to NaO in order to balance the equation. Make sure you add
the correct number of skittles/atoms/molecules on your model to reflect the change in
coefficients.

6. Once you have found the right combination of skittles to balance the atoms on the
reactant and product sides:
1. Draw a diagram of the final skittle arrangement of molecules
2. Count the final numbers of each atoms on the product and reactant side
3. Write your final, balanced, equation out.

Skittle Diagram:

HCl + NaOH  NaCl + H2O

Balanced Equation: _1_HCl + _1_NaOH  ___1_NaCl + __1_H2O

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Na 1 1 Na 1 1
O 1 1 O 1 1
H 2 2 H 2 2
Cl 1 1 Cl 1 1

*For our example, we have the same number of each atom for both products and
reactants, we do not NOT need to add any coefficients to balance the equation.

For your problems, you WILL need to balance the chemical equations!

Instructions
Listed below are a series of unbalanced chemical equations. Work in pairs to balance
the following chemical equations. Once you have found the right combination of skittles
 Name______________________
Period ___________
to balance atoms on the reactant and product sides, draw your skittle diagram (in color
AND write the symbol), count the number of atoms before and after balancing, and write
out the balanced equation in the space below each chemical equation.

1. Na + O2 Na2O

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Na Na
O O

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation:

2. K + Cl2  KCl

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
K K
Cl Cl

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation:

3. H2O2  H2O + O2

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
H H
O O
3. Skittle diagram: (H2O2  H2O + O2)
 Name______________________
Period ___________

Balanced equation:

4. Na + Cl2  NaCl

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Na Na
Cl Cl

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation:

5. CH4 + O2  CO2 + H2O

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
C C
H H
O O

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation:

6. MnO2 + HCl  MnCl2 + H2O + Cl2

Reactants Products
 Name______________________
Period ___________
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Mn Mn
O O
H H
Cl Cl
Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation:

7. C3H8 + O2  CO2 + H2O

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
C C
H H
O O
Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation:

8. Fe2O3 + C  Fe + CO2

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Fe Fe
O O
C C
Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation:
Analysis
 Name______________________
Period ___________
1. What side of the equation are the reactants found?

2. What side of the equation are the products found?

3. What does the arrow represent?

4. Why do we balance chemical equations?

5. What law tells us we need the same amount of each atom type on both sides of
the equation? Why?

6. Why can’t subscripts be changed?

ANSWER KEY!!!!
Instructions
 Name______________________
Period ___________
Listed below are a series of unbalanced chemical equations. Work in pairs to balance
the following chemical equations. Once you have found the right combination of skittles
to balance atoms on the reactant and product sides, draw your skittle diagram (in color),
count the number of atoms before and after balancing, and write out the balanced
equation in the space below each chemical equation.

1. Na + O2 Na2O

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Na 1 4 Na 2 4
O 2 2 O 1 2

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation: 4Na + O2  2Na2O

2. K + Cl2  KCl

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
K 1 2 K 1 2
Cl 2 2 Cl 1 2

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation: 2K + Cl2  2KCl

3. H2O2  H2O + O2

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
H 2 4 H 2 4
O 2 4 O 3 4
3. Skittle diagram:
 Name______________________
Period ___________

Balanced equation: 2H2O2  2H2O + O2

4. Na + Cl2  NaCl

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Na 1 2 Na 1 2
Cl 2 2 Cl 1 2

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation: 2Na + Cl2  2NaCl

5. CH4 + O2  CO2 + H2O

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
C 1 1 C 1 1
H 4 4 H 2 4
O 2 4 O 3 4

Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation: CH4 + 2O2  CO2 + 2H2O

6. MnO2 + HCl  MnCl2 + H2O + Cl2

Reactants Products
 Name______________________
Period ___________
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Mn 1 1 Na 1 1
O 2 2 O 1 2
H 1 4 H 2 4
Cl 1 4 Cl 4 4
Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation: MnO2 + 4HCl  MnCl2 + 2H2O + Cl2

7. C3H8 + O2  CO2 + H2O

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
C 3 C 1 3
H 8 H 2 8
O 2 O 3 105
Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation: C3H8 + 5O2  3CO2 + 4H2O

8. Fe2O3 + C  Fe + CO2

Reactants Products
Before After Before After
Balancing Balancing Balancing Balancing
Fe 2 4 Fe 1 4
O 3 6 O 2 6
C 1 3 C 1 3
Skittle diagram:

Balanced equation: 2Fe2O3 + 3C  4Fe + 3CO2

ANSWER KEY
Analysis
 Name______________________
Period ___________

1. What side of the equation are the reactants found?

On the left side of the arrow. It’s the raw materials

2. What side of the equation are the products found?

On the right side of the arrow. It is what new things are made.

3. What does the arrow represent?

“Yields”

4. Why do we balance chemical equations?

“the law of conservation of matter states that matter can not be created nor
destroyed, just rearranged. Therefore, to make new products, there needed to be the
correct amount of raw material availabe from which to make it”

5. What law tells us we need the same amount of each atom type on both sides of
the equation? Why?

The Law of Conservation of Matter. It states that matter can not be created nor
destroyed, only rearranged. Therefore there needs to be the exact same amount of
atoms on either side of the arrow.

6. Why can’t subscripts be changed?

Changing subscripts changes what molecule you have. Each type of molecule has
its own properties (physical and chemical) and is unique from all others. For
example, the molecular formula for water is H2O. Water has it’s own unique melting
point, boliing point, and other properties. If you added a 2 Subscript to water
changing it into H2O2 would make Hydrogen Peroxide. A liquid at room temperature
that has completely different properties than water. (It was the liquid that dissolved
the liver during the station rotation lab)