Chemical equations are like recipes for chemical reactions! They use special symbols and chemical formulas to show what happens when substances change.
- Definition: A chemical equation is a shorthand way to represent a chemical reaction using chemical formulas and symbols.
- Reactants: Substances that start the reaction (written on the left side).
- Products: New substances formed by the reaction (written on the right side).
Common Symbols:
+ : "reacts with" or "and"
→ : "yields" or "produces"
(s) : solid state
(l) : liquid state
(g) : gaseous state
(aq) : aqueous solution (dissolved in water)
Δ (over arrow) : heat is applied
catalyst (over arrow) : catalyst used
Example: The formation of water from hydrogen and oxygen.
2H₂ (g) + O₂ (g) → 2H₂O (l)
This means: Two molecules of hydrogen gas react with one molecule of oxygen gas to produce two molecules of liquid water.