What is the purpose of balancing a chemical equation?

1 Answer

To determine the stoichiometric relationship between species.

Explanation:

The truth is, there a lot of reasons on why to balance chemical reactions/equations. But in my opinion, the main reason is to determine the stoichiometric relationship between species.

Say for example,

#3A+2B -> 4C+1D#

Let the above reaction be balanced where A, B, C, and D are different chemical species.

From the reaction, it may be concluded that the production of 4 moles of C requires 3 moles of A. Also, the production of 4 moles of C requires 2 moles of B.