Balance chemical equations by coefficients.
Complete combustion of any compound built from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen balances by inspection rather than trial and error. Every carbon atom becomes one CO2, every two hydrogen atoms become one H2O, and the oxygen requirement follows from conserving oxygen atoms across the equation — with any oxygen already in the fuel subtracted from what must be supplied. If the arithmetic produces a fractional coefficient, the whole equation is scaled up until every coefficient is a whole number.
Combustion balance by atom conservation
CxHyOz + (x + y/4 - z/2) O2 -> x CO2 + (y/2) H2O, then multiply through to clear fractions
Because it already contributes to the CO2 and H2O produced. Ethanol C2H6O carries one oxygen atom, which is half an O2 molecule, so only 3 O2 must be supplied instead of 3.5.
No. It assumes every carbon ends as CO2 and every hydrogen as H2O. Incomplete combustion producing carbon monoxide or soot is not stoichiometrically determined — it depends on the oxygen supplied and the flame conditions.
Not directly. It solves the combustion family in closed form. General equation balancing requires solving a linear system over the element matrix, which needs the full formulas of every species.