Here's a breakdown:
* Stoichiometry: The study of the quantitative relationships between reactants and products in chemical reactions.
* Stoichiometric coefficient: A number placed in front of a chemical formula in a balanced chemical equation. It represents the relative number of moles of that substance involved in the reaction.
Example:
In the balanced chemical equation for the combustion of methane:
CH₄ + 2O₂ → CO₂ + 2H₂O
* The stoichiometric coefficient for methane (CH₄) is 1.
* The stoichiometric coefficient for oxygen (O₂) is 2.
* The stoichiometric coefficient for carbon dioxide (CO₂) is 1.
* The stoichiometric coefficient for water (H₂O) is 2.
Key points about stoichiometric coefficients:
* They are whole numbers, not fractions.
* They are not subscripts in the chemical formula.
* They represent the relative number of moles of each substance involved in the reaction.
* They are used to balance chemical equations, ensuring that the number of atoms of each element is the same on both sides of the equation.
