Stoichiometry
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Stoichiometry is simply the math behind chemistry. Given enough information, one can use stoichiometry to calculate masses, moles, and percents within a chemical equation.
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What is a Chemical Equation?
In chemistry, we use symbols to represent the various chemicals. Success in chemistry depends upon developing a strong familiarity with these basic symbols. For example, the symbol "C"represents an atom of carbon, and "H" represents an atom of hydrogen. To represent a molecule of table salt, sodium chloride, we would use the notation "NaCl", where "Na" represents sodium and "Cl" represents chlorine. We call chlorine "chloride" in this case because of its connection to sodium. You should have reviewed naming schemes, or nomenclature, in earlier readings.
A chemical equation is an expression of a chemical process. For example:
AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq) ---> AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq)
In this equation, AgNO3 is mixed with NaCl. The equation shows that the reactants (AgNO3 and NaCl) react through some process (--->) to form the products (AgCl and NaNO3). Since they undergo a chemical process, they are changed fundamentally.
Often chemical equations are written showing the state that each substance is in. The (s) sign means that the compound is a solid. The (l) sign means the substance is a liquid. The (aq) sign stands for aqueous in water and means the compound is dissolved in water. Finally, the (g) sign means that the compound is a gas.
Coefficients are used in all chemical equations to show the relative amounts of each substance present. This amount can represent either the relative number of molecules, or the relative number of moles (described below). If no coefficient is shown, a one (1) is assumed.
On some occasions, a variety