In chemistry it is imperative that you understand how chemical reactions occur and how to describe them. So, take the time to learn how to generate and write a chemical equation.
A reaction is the rearrangement of atoms or ions to form new substances (products). In other words, a reaction always involves the changing of one or more substances (reactants) into one or more newsubstances.
Chemists quantitatively describe reactions with equations based on the empirical evidences recorded in the laboratory. These equations allow chemists to make several quantitative predictions about chemical reactions, so you need to master this skill.
What is a Chemical Equation?
It is a symbolic representation of a reaction and reveals three things.
- the reactants
- the products and
- the amounts of each substance involved
Preparing for Chemical Equations
The writing of a equation is fairly simple; but you must be well-known with a few things before writing one. You must know the following:
- how to use the periodic table
- how to write chemical formulas
- how to name compounds and
- a few uncomplicated symbols
Once you have mastered these components you are ready to write some equations.
The Symbols
- gas (g)
- solid (s)
- liquid (l)
- aqueous (aq)
- ===> (yields)
7 Steps to Writing Chemical equations
- Identify the reactants
- Identify the products
- Write formulas for the reactants
- Write formulas for the products
- Write the reactants on the left
- Write the products on the right
- Place an arrow in the middle of them
Example: Write the equation for the reaction of sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid to yield sodium chloride and water.
The reactants would be NaOh and Hcl. The products would be NaCl and Hoh. Now write the equation with reactants on the left and the products on the right.
NaOh + Hcl ===> NaCl + Hoh
