Chemical
Equations
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What is a Chemical Equation?
A Chemical Equation is one the most basic tools for describing what happens during
General structure is
-->
Word and Formula Equations
Replacing the words “reactants” and “products” with their chemical names gives a word equation for a reaction
Eg
+ --> + +
These are quite long so we use formula equations
Eg
+ --> + + >
Showing States
The substances (chemicals) cvan be in one of four states
(s) -
(l)-
(g) -
(aq) -
eg
CaCO3(s) + H2SO4(aq) → CaSO4(s) + H2O(l) + CO2(g)
Balanced Chemical Equations
The law of
implies that the number of atoms on the product side must equal the number of
on the
side.
Eg
hydrogen + oxygen → water OR
H2(g) + O2(g) → H2O(l)
But the oxygen atoms don’t balance
The balanced equation looks like this:
H2(g) + 2O2(g) → 2H2O(l)
Balancing Equations Video