Decomposition reactions are very common, and this word is used so much that many chemists just say "decomp". When people use this word in the lab, they might just mean that something didn't work, or t...Decomposition reactions are very common, and this word is used so much that many chemists just say "decomp". When people use this word in the lab, they might just mean that something didn't work, or that a chemical reacted in an unwanted way, especially while it was sitting in a bottle for a long time. For instance, when heated or struck, a salt of a complex anion (chlorate, carbonate, azide) may lose a gas (oxygen, carbon dioxide or nitrogen) leaving behind a simpler salt or metal.
