Question

What rules underlie the writing of chemical equations?

Answer 1

Equations REPRESENT chemical reactions...........whose behaviour must be established by experiment.

Explanation:

And chemical reactions follow TWO ABSOLUTE RULES :

`"1. Mass is conserved."`

`"2. Charge is conserved."`

It follows that our representation of chemical reactions CONSERVE mass and charge.

For redox reactions, see [here, for the half equation method.](https://socratic.org/questions/what-is-the-first-step-to-balance-a-redox-equation-using-the-half-reaction-metho-1). For combustion reactions, see here, and for the use of stoichiometry in our daily life, see [here.](https://socratic.org/questions/can-you-give-examples-of-the-uses-of-stoichiometry-in-our-daily-life)

But remember that chemical equations represent actual experiments, whose behaviour and performance must be observed and assessed.