describe a chemical equation with an example also write the type of chemical reaction
Answers
A chemical reaction happens when one or more chemicals are changed into one or more other chemicals. Examples: iron and oxygen combining to make rust. vinegar and baking soda combining to make sodium acetate, carbon dioxide and water. ... many reactions that happen inside living things.
[2H_2 + O_2 \rightarrow 2H_2O\]
Chemical formulas and other symbols are used to indicate the starting materials, or reactants, which by convention are written on the left side of the equation, and the final compounds, or products, which are written on the right. An arrow points from the reactant to the products. The chemical reaction for the ammonium dichromate volcano in Figure 4.1.1 is
\[ (NH_4)_2Cr_2O_7 \rightarrow Cr_2O_3 + N_2 + 4H_2O \label{4.1.1} \]
\[ reactant \, \, \, \, \,\, \, \, \, \, \, \,\,\, products \]
The arrow is read as “yields” or “reacts to form.” Equation 4.1.1 indicates that ammonium dichromate (the reactant) yields chromium(III) oxide, nitrogen, and water (the products). The equation for this reaction is even more informative when written as follows:
\[ (NH_4)_2Cr_2O_7(s) \rightarrow Cr_2O_{3\;(s)} + N_{2\;(g)} + 4H_2O_{(g)} \label{4.1.2}\]
Equation 4.1.2 is identical to Equation 4.1.1 except for the addition of abbreviations in parentheses to indicate the physical state of each species. The abbreviations are (s) for solid, (l) for liquid, (g) for gas, and (aq) for an aqueous solution, a solution of the substance in water.
Consistent with the law of conservation of mass, the numbers of each type of atom are the same on both sides of Equations 4.1.1 and 4.1.2. Each side of the reaction has two chromium atoms, seven oxygen atoms, two nitrogen atoms, and eight hydrogen atoms.
In a balanced chemical equation, both the numbers of each type of atom and the total charge are the same on both sides. Equations 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 are balanced chemical equations. What is different on each side of the equation is how the atoms are arranged to make molecules or ions. A chemical reaction represents a change in the distribution of atoms, but not in the number of atoms. In this reaction, and in most chemical reactions, bonds are broken in the reactants (here, Cr–O and N–H bonds), and new bonds are formed to create the products (here, O–H and N≡N bonds). If the numbers of each type of atom are different on the two sides of a chemical equation, then the equation is unbalanced, and it cannot correctly describe what happens during the reaction. To proceed, the equation must first be balanced.
Note
A chemical reaction changes only the distribution of atoms, not the number of atoms.