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How does changing a coefficient differ from changing a subscript?
For example, why is Fe balanced as 3Fe instead of Fe3?
1 Answer
- 1 decade agoFavorite Answer
The subscripts tell you how the atoms are bound together.
When you change a subscript, that changes what molecule you have.
For example, H2O is water, but H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide (the liquid in the brown bottles that you put on cuts that bubbles up).
Different subscript = different molecule with different properties.
Putting a 3 in front of Fe just means you have 3 separate Fe atoms. If you make it Fe3, you are saying that they are bound together (which they are not!).
Source(s): I'm a Chemistry teacher
