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43 votes
Can someone double check this? I didn't understand it, so I gave it my best guess, but I'd appreciate an explanation.

Can someone double check this? I didn't understand it, so I gave it my best guess-example-1
User Xzhu
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1 Answer

15 votes
15 votes
Subscripts are the tiny numbers. They show the number of atoms in that element. Coefficients show how much of the compounds there is.

On the reactant side there is 1 carbon atom because there is only 1 C on the left side. There are 4 hydrogens because the subscript (tiny number) shows a 4. There are 4 oxygen atoms because there are 2 sets of O2. 2*2=4.

On the product side, there is only 1 carbon atom because there is no subscript or coefficient. 4 hydrogen because 2*2=4. 4 oxygen because there is 2 oxygens in CO2 and 2 in H20. 2+2=4.

Basically multiply the subscript next to the element by the coefficient to find the number of atoms. I hope this helps you.
User Xiaokaoy
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