Skip to main content
9: An Introduction to Chemical Reactions
-
-
Last updated
-
-
Save as PDF
-
-
-
9.1: Chemical Equations
-
A chemical reaction is the process in which one or more substances are changed into one or more new substances. Chemical reactions are represented by chemical equations. Chemical equations have reactants on the left, an arrow that is read as "yields", and the products on the right.
-
-
9.2: Balancing Chemical Equations
-
In chemical reactions, atoms are never created or destroyed. The same atoms that were present in the reactants are present in the products - they are merely reorganized into different arrangements. When chemical equations are balanced, coefficients are placed in front of the pure substances in the equation to make the equation consistent with the conservation of mass.
-
-
9.3: Writing Chemical Equations
-
A chemical reaction is the process in which one or more substances are changed into one or more new substances. Chemical reactions are represented by chemical equations. Chemical equations have reactants on the left, an arrow that is read as "yields", and the products on the right.
-
-
9.4: Classifying Chemical Reactions- Take One
-
Chemical reactions are classified into types to help us analyze them and also to help us predict what the products of the reaction will be. The four major types of chemical reactions are combination, decomposition, single replacement, and double replacement.
-
-
9.5: Classifying Chemical Reactions- Take Two
-
Chemical reactions can be classified by the types of reactants and products that are involved in the reaction. Precipitation, neutralization, and redox reactions will be examined.
-
-
9.6: Solubility Rules
-
Not all ionic compounds are soluble in water. Solubility rules can be used to predict whether a large number of ionic compounds will dissolve in water or not.
-
-
9.7: Precipitation Reactions
-
A precipitation reaction is a reaction that yields an insoluble product—a precipitate—when two solutions are mixed. Thus precipitation reactions are a subclass of exchange reactions that occur between ionic compounds when one of the products is insoluble. Because both components of each compound change partners, such reactions are sometimes called double-displacement reactions.
-
-
9.8: Neutralization Reactions
-
The Arrhenius definition of an acid is a substance that increases the amount of H+ in an aqueous solution. The Arrhenius definition of a base is a substance that increases the amount of OH- in an aqueous solution. Neutralization is the reaction of an acid and a base, which forms water and a salt.
-
-
9.9: A Very Brief Introduction to Redox Reactions
-
"Redox" is short for "oxidation and reduction." All redox reactions involve the transfer of electrons from one species to another. If an atom appears in its elemental from one one side of a chemical reaction and as part of a compound on the other side, we know a redox reaction is occurring.