What do the total charges need to add to in order to write an ionic formula?

Explanation:

When metal and nonmetal ions form ionic bonds, their total electrical charges must balance each other exactly (as in, add up to zero). In order to write a correct formula, you must know the ion charges of all the atoms involved.

2fe + 3h2so4 -> fe2(so4)3 + 3h2

it is necessary to balance equations in order to get the proper amount of reactants as well as products in order not to make a miscalculation.

you cannot change the subscripts as that would change the substance itself. for instance, diatomic elements such as h2 only have the subscript two when a gas. another example would be so4, if you were to change the subscript, the element would no longer be sulfate.

we change the coefficients instead as that only changes the number of molecules rather than the substance itself.

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