How do you do chemical equations, in simple terms?

1. Determine the chemical formulas for the reactants and products.

2. Write a chemical equation with the reactants on the left and the products on the right.

3. "Balance" the equation. a) The number of atoms on the left side should equal the number of atoms on the right side of the equation. This is acuieved by multiplying (with small numbers) the reactant formulas and the product formulas. b) charge should be balanced if it's an ionic equation.