PLEASE HELP When iron metal reacts with sulfuric acid, it produces iron (III) sulfate and hydrogen gas. Balance the equation: Fe + H2SO4 → Fe2(SO4)3 + H2.

Explain why it is necessary to balance chemical equations and why coefficients can be added to an equation, but subscripts cannot be changed

Explanation:

Balanced equation

2Fe + 3H2SO4 → Fe2(SO4)3 + 3H2.

Subscripts

This is a very important question. It is good to know the answer. The subscripts cannot be altered because that's the way the molecule is constructed. For example, it takes 2 Hydrogens to mix with one SO4 ion. That's the way Sulfuric acid is found in nature. There are no other ways to write 2H+ and SO4-2

You can alter (and you must alter) the way the molecules react with each other. You need to make sure that the Conservation of Mass law is always being obeyed. So when you have 6 H's on the left, you must have the same number on the right. 6 grams of hydrogen on the left = 5 hydrogens on the right.