Balancing Chemical Equations: The Mirror Image Method

Abstract

A new approach of balancing chemical equations using the concept of mirror image is presented with in this paper and some examples are given. The new method solves a system of equations based on the law of conservation of mass, that in any chemical reaction, atoms are not destroyed in moving from one state to another. By using the principle of reversible fractions, considerable time, material cost and effort are saved when compared with the traditional method of using the echelon form or the Gaussian elimination method. Moreover, this new method will serve as cost reduction to students especially in the third world countries where software’s are expensive to get. Besides this, the method of reversible fraction offers a major advantage over the use of software’s in balancing chemical equations of redox-reactions type, since a software only wants to obtain a balanced equation without considering the atoms that may be transformed to other states in the course of the reaction. Most importantly, this method has obviated the problem that is inherent in inherent in balancing skeletal equations where in redox reactions, some elements appear in various oxidation states and makes it difficult to balance chemical equations using the redox method.