-= PHYSCI MODULE 3 =-

CHEMICAL
REACTIONS
Topic: Chemical Reactions and Equations
Objectives:
1. Explain what a chemical reaction is;
2. Discuss and examine a chemical equation; and
3. Describe the different types of chemical reaction and examine the factors affecting reaction rate

A chemical reaction is a process through which one or more substances are changed into different
substances. The original substances are called reactants, and the resulting substances are referred to as products.

Representing Chemical Reactions

Chemical reactions are represented by chemical equations. Consisting of symbols and formulas, chemical
equations show what happens during chemical reactions. (See Table 1 for symbols in chemical equations).

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2 H2(g) + O2(g) → 2 H2O(l)

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Reactant Product
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Compounds at the left- hand side (blue color) are the reactants needed for the reaction to take place.
Those at the right- hand side (red color) are the products formed in the reaction.
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coefficient 2 H2 subscript

You may notice that there are two types of numbers in our example- the big number (green color) written
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before the chemical formula and the small (dark-red color) one written after some elements in the formula.
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Big numbers are called coefficients, which gives the idea of the number of molecules or formula units.
The small numbers are termed as subscripts, which tell how many atoms are present in specific compound. (Note:
the absence of coefficients or subscripts means the number is equal to “1”).
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Table 1. Symbols in Chemical Equations

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Symbol Function
Written between the symbols and/or formulas of reactants
+ or products
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Left side: read as “combines with” or “reacts with”

Right side: read as “and”
Separate reactants from products
Read as “yields” or “produces”
(s) Indicates a solid reactant or product
(l) Indicates a liquid reactant or product
(g) Indicates a gaseous reactant or product
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 (aq) Indicates that the reactant or product is in aqueous solution
(homogeneously dispersed in water)
Indicates that heat must be supplied to reactants before
reaction occurs
catalyst The substance written above the arrow is a catalyst or a
solvent.

Word Equations
Chemical reactions may also be written through word equations. A word equation presents reactants and
products of a chemical reaction using words. It only identifies the reactants and products involved, but not their
quantities.

Hydrogen gas + chlorine gas hydrogen chloride gas

The word equation above is read as “hydrogen gas and chlorine gas react to produce hydrogen chlorine
gas” or simply, “hydrogen gas and chlorine gas produce hydrogen chlorine gas”.

Converting a word equation into chemical equation

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A word equation can be converted into chemical equation by replacing the names of the reactants and

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products with their corresponding symbols or formulas. (Note: physical state of matter (e.g solid, liquid, gas,

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aqueous) are indicated using italicized letters in parenthesis after each chemical element [(s), (l), (g), (aq)]

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Example 1.
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Solid sodium (Na) is combined with water (H2O) to form aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and
hydrogen gas (H2).
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Solution:
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First, identify your reactants (left side) and products (right side) with their physical state.
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In our example, the reactants and products are as follows:

Reactants: solid sodium (Na)(s)

Water (H2O) (l)
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Products: sodium hydroxide (NaOH)(aq)

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hydrogen gas (H2) (g)

To know the symbols for the physical state of the reactant and/or product, you can check
Table 1.
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Answer:

Na(s) + H2O(l) NaOH(aq) + H2(g)

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Note: Symbol “ “ is read as “form”, “produce” and “yield”.

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Example 2.
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 The reaction between aqueous calcium hydroxide [ Ca(OH) 2] and carbon dioxide (CO2)
gas produces calcium carbonate (CaCO3) solid precipitate and liquid water (H2O).

Solution:
First, identify your reactants (left side) and products (right side) with their physical state.
Reactants:
aqueous calcium hydroxide [ Ca(OH)2]
carbon dioxide (CO2) gas

Products:
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) solid precipitate
liquid water (H2O)

Answer:
Ca(OH)2(aq) + CO2(g) CaCO3(s)+ H2O(l)

Types of Chemical Reactions

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1. Combination Reaction

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In a combination reaction or synthesis reaction, 2 or more substances combine to form new compound. It
takes the general representation as follows:

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Example: 2Na(s) + Cl2(g) 2NaCl(s)
A B A B
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2. Decomposition Reaction
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Involves breaking down of a single compound to produce 2 or more simpler substances. It is the opposite
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of combination reaction and represented by this general representation:

General: AB A+B
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Example: 2H2O(l) 2H2(g) + O2(g)

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AB A B

3. Single Displacement Reaction

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When a cation or an anion is exchanged from a compound, this is called as single displacement reaction.
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General: AB + X AX + B
Example: 2KBr(aq) + Cl2(g) 2KCl(aq)+ Br2(g)
4. Double Displacement Reaction AB X AX B
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The anions are exchanged between two compounds, or salts

General: AX + BY AY+ BX
Example: AgNO3(aq) + NaCl(aq) AgCl(s) + NaNO3(aq)
AX BY AY B
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Reference:
Chang, R. & Goldsby, K. (2016). Chemistry. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, Inc.
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 Additional learning references:
Converting word equation to chemical equation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcF8E8aAOGs

Types of Chemical Reactions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMU1RaRulSo

Written Work
A. Convert each word equations into chemical equations. Do not forget to write the symbols for the physical states
of the reactants and products.

1. Solid potassium (K) metal combine with chlorine (Cl2) gas to form potassium chloride (KCl) solid
powder.

Chemical equation:__________________________________________________________________

2. Aqueous potassium hydroxide (KOH) is combined with aqueous sulfuric acid (H2SO4) to form liquid
water (H2O) and aqueous potassium sulfate (K2SO4).

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Chemical equation:__________________________________________________________________

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3. Sulfur (S) burns in oxygen gas (O2) to form gaseous sulfur dioxide (SO2).

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Chemical equation:__________________________________________________________________
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B. Classify each reaction as combination, decomposition, single displacement, or double displacement.
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1. CaCO3(s) CaO(s) + CO2(g) _____________________________________________

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2. CuSO4(aq) + Zn(s) ZnSO4(aq) + Cu(s) ____________________________________________

3. 2AlCl3(s) + Ca3N2(s) 2AlN(s) + 3CaCl2(s) ____________________________________________

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4. 2Fe2O3(s) + 3C(s) 4Fe(s) + 3CO2(g) ____________________________________________

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5. NH3(g) + HCl(g) NH4Cl(s) ____________________________________________

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