Stoichiometry refers to conservation of atomic species. In this article, local refers to a point at the continuum level, global refers to the macroscopic balance level, and elementary refers to conservation of atomic species associated with distinct kinetic steps. The role of stoichiometry in the determination of the pivot matrix and the mechanistic matrix is presented. The elements of both these matrices are referred to as stoichiometric coefficients; however, both sets of coefficients are different and both play different roles in the analysis of chemical reactors. (C) 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 538 552, 2012