Chemical Reaction Word Equation

Chemical Reactions and Equations

• The law of conservation of mass states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction, only transformed from one substance to another.

Balancing Chemical Equations

• A balanced chemical equation is one in which the number of atoms of each element is the same on both the reactant and product sides.
• A skeletal chemical equation is a chemical equation that has not been balanced, meaning the number of atoms of each element is not the same on both sides.

Importance of Balancing

• It is important to balance a chemical equation to ensure that the law of conservation of mass is upheld and to accurately represent the reaction.

Representing Chemical Reactions

• A word-equation represents a chemical reaction using words, such as "Zinc + Sulphuric acid → Zinc sulphate + Hydrogen".
• The simplest way to represent the chemical reaction involving the burning of a magnesium ribbon in oxygen is "2Mg + O2 → 2MgO".

Chemical Equation Structure

• In a word-equation, reactants are written on the left and products are written on the right.
• The arrow in a chemical equation indicates the direction of the reaction, with reactants on the left and products on the right.

Refining Chemical Equations

• Chemical equations can be made more concise and useful by using symbols and formulas instead of words.
• To ensure a balanced equation, the number of atoms of each element should be compared on both sides of the equation and adjusted accordingly.