Types of Chemical Reactions:

A chemical reaction is what occurs when the molecular structure of a combination of substances changes to form new
materials. The substances that initially combine are called reactants and the substances that result from the interaction
are called products.

There are four categories in which all chemical reactions fall into:

• A synthesis or combination reaction: when a number of smaller molecules chemically combine to form a single,
larger substance.
• A decomposition reaction: when a large molecule breaks up into a number of smaller molecules.
• A single replacement reaction: when a molecule made up of two parts substitutes a loose atom or ion with one
in its make-up.
• A double replacement reaction: when there are two reactants and both are made up of two parts. All parts swap
places.

There are a number of different chemical reaction types that fit into these categories. These are:

• Precipitation: a double displacement reaction that results in the production of an insoluble solid
• Combustion: reaction of a substance with oxygen in the presence of heat to form oxides
• Oxidation-Reduction: reaction that involves the transfer of electrons from one reactant to the other to form
products
• Hydrolysis: reaction of a substance with water
• Neutralisation: reaction of an acid with a base to form a salt
• Condensation: reaction that involves the production of a new substance and water

Chemical Equations: A word equation is a chemical equation where the reactants and products are written as words. A
symbol equation is a chemical equation where the reactants and products are written as their ionic or molecular
formulae. An ionic equation is one where cations and anions that are in the same state in the reactants as they are in
the products are omitted. The ions that are omitted are termed "spectator ions".

• The Law of Conservation of Mass is: “During a chemical reaction, atoms cannot be created or destroyed.” What
this means is that the number of atoms of each element in the reactants must be equal to the number of those
atoms in the products.

The main and basic difference between an aqueous solution and liquids is that a liquid is a state of matter which has
some typical characteristics which distinguishes it from other states of matter, i.e., solids and gases; whereas an aqueous
solution is a solution where the solvent is water, which is a liquid, and some other substance or compound which is
dissolved in it called the solute.

EX EN All chemical reactions have a change in energy. The total energy of a chemical system is called enthalpy. The Law
of Conservation of Energy works in a similar way to the Law of Conservation of Mass in the way that the energy in a
chemical reaction is not created or destroyed but is simple changed into different forms. There are two forms in which
energy can exist in a chemical reaction:

• Chemical potential energy: the energy stored within the bonds of a substance.
• Chemical kinetic energy: the energy that is due to particle motion.

The change in enthalpy of a chemical reaction can be determined by substracting the enthalpy of the reactants from the
enthalpy of the products.

• If the total energy required to break bonds in the reactants is more than the total energy released when new
bonds are formed in the products, it is an endothermic reaction. The change in enthalpy of an endothermic
reaction is positive because energy is absorbed over the course of the reaction (the energy of the products is
 more than the energy of the reactants). The environment around which an endothermic reaction occurs
becomes colder. Energy must be absorbed into a bond for it to break. Bond breaking is called an endothermic
process.

• If the total energy required to break bonds in the reactants is less than the total energy released when new
bonds are formed in the products, it is an exothermic reaction. The change in enthalpy of an exothermic
reaction is negative because energy is released over the course of the reaction (the energy of the products is
less than the energy of the reactants). The environment around which an exothermic reaction occurs becomes
hotter. Energy is released when a bond is formed. Bond forming is called an exothermic process.

A thermochemical equation is a chemical equation that shows the energy absorbed or released. This can be expressed
in two ways; either the change in enthalpy is shown at the end of the equation or the enthalpy is included as part of the
reaction. This looks like this:

• Exothermic reaction showing enthalpy change, ΔH: 2H2(g) + O2(g) -> 2H2O(l) ΔH = -522kJ
• Exothermic reaction showing heat released: 2H2(g) + O2(g) -> 2H2O(l) + 522kJ
• Endothermic reaction showing enthalpy change, ΔH: CO2(g) -> C(s) + O2(g) ΔH = +394kJ
• Endothermic reaction showing heat absorbed: CO2(g) + 394kJ -> C(s) + O2(g)

Formula mass and calculating elemental composition: The formula mass of a substance can be determined by adding up
the atomic masses of the elements involved.

By calculating the formula mass, you can determine the ratio of an element as part of a compound.

% 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = ((𝐴𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑐 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 × 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒) / (𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓
𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑)) x 100