Balancing Equations and Reactant Limits

Chemical equations show how reactants change into products during a reaction. Stoichiometry is the study of the relative amounts of reactants and products. It is based on the Law of Conservation of Mass, which says matter is neither created nor destroyed. Because atoms are only rearranged, the number and identity of atoms mu...

In chemical reactions, atoms — which are the building blocks of reactants — are rearranged to form new entities called products. The law of the conservation of masses states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed. Thus, for a chemical reaction in an isolated system, the mass remains constant.

The number of atoms on the reactant ...