Chemistry question help needed please!

[RoryGillmoresEvilTwin]

This is the question I have on a mock paper:
Iron metal is oxidized by oxygen to form iron (III) oxide.
Write a balanced equation for this process

The answer is
4Fe (s) + 3O2 (g) >>>> 2Fe2 O_3 (s)

I'm struggling with where the 2 comes from in the products (2Fe2).

Any help would be massively appreciated!

You start with four units (atoms) of elemental iron (4Fe) and make two units of iron oxide which has two iron atoms and 3 oxygen atoms per molecule

The 2 is because it is a balanced equation. You had 4Fe and now you have 2Fe2 or 2 x 2 which equals 4. The number of atoms must be equal on both sides of the equation. Hope that makes sense

You need to have an even number of O on the produce side, as O comes in pairs.
so, since there are only 3 O atoms in the product, you need to double both sides to have 6 O atoms (3 O2). That means 2 lots of [Fe2] in the product, and so 4 lots of elemental iron as starting materials.

It’s basically saying that iron (Fe) plus oxygen (O2) makes iron oxide Fe2O_3 (no space between). Then the numbers have to balance and it becomes 4 iron atoms, plus 3 oxygen molecules to give 2 molecules of iron oxide (rust). On each side of the equation you have 4 iron atoms and 6 oxygen atoms

Ok thank you! I had a total brain freeze there.