The chemical equations we will encounter in this exercise can be balanced by a sort of “guess and check” procedure. It is ok to make mistakes, erase, and rewrite numbers – use a pencil! The following guidelines are helpful suggestions to follow while balancing. Do NOT change any subscripts in the chemical formulas while balancing. 1) Choose the compound with the greatest number of atoms (highest numbers for subscripts). Balance the number of atoms of that element on both sides of the equation. This is done by writing a number called a coefficient in front of the formula of the element or compound. The coefficient is chosen so that when the coefficient is multiplied by the subscript for that element, the number of atoms of that element is equal to the number of atoms of the same element on the other side of the arrow. 2) Continue until the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the arrow. 3) Check all coefficients to see that they are whole numbers and the lowest possible ratio.