Why is it important to make sure that chemical equations are balanced and why should you not alter the identities of the substances involved when you balance an equation? How would an unbalanced chemical equation convey misleading information about what took place during a chemical reaction?

It is important to make sure that chemical equations are balanced because it will lead you to the write calculations of the amounts of the substances involved in the reaction. It is important that you do not alter the identities of the substances involved so that you can count properly the number of atoms of an element in the reaction.