A chemical reaction can be expressed in terms of:
The skeleton equation is still in unbalanced form
so only chemical formulas of reactants and products so that the relative amounts of the reactants and products are not included
For example :
Ethane + Oxygen ⇒ Carbon dioxide + Water
C₂H₆ + O₂ ⇒ CO₂ + H₂O
2C₂H₆ + 7O₂ ⇒ 4CO₂ + 6H₂O
2C₂H₆ + 7O₂ ⇒ 4CO₂(H₂0 is still missing)