What is a balanced chemical equation? Why should chemical equations be balanced?

Explanation

Balanced chemical equation. A chemical equation is said to be balanced if :
(i) the atoms of different elements on both sides of the equation are equal.
(ii) the equation is molecular i.e., the gases if involved in the equation must be in the molecular form (`e.g., H_(2), O_(2), N_(2), Cl_(2)` etc.)
Necessity to balance chemical equations. The chemical equations have to be balanced to fulfil the requirement of law of conservation of mass. According to the law,
'In a chemical reaction, the mass of reactants must be the same as the mass of products and this is possible only if the atoms of different elements of the reactants and products are equal.'