What shows the elements and ratio of atoms is a compound

When two or more elements chemically combine, they form a compound. 

for left side: 3 c, 8 h, 2 o. for right side, 1 c, 3 o, 2 hwe want to balance oxygen last because it is the only one that is isolated. we can fine tune it at the end.put a coefficient on right side to balance the number of carbons.now make the number of hydrogens eventhere are 8 h on the left and 2 h on the right. put a coefficient on the right side like so: now we have 10 oxygens on the right and 2 on the left. to get the left side to have 10 oxygens, put a coefficient of 5 (5 * 2 = 10)the coefficient in front of  in the balanced equation is 3.