Explanation:
Chemical reactions occur when chemical bonds between atoms are formed or broken. The substances that go into a chemical reaction are called the reactants, and the substances produced at the end of the reaction are known as the products. An arrow is drawn between the reactants and products to indicate the direction of the chemical reaction, though a chemical reaction is not always a "one-way street," as we'll explore further in the next section.
For example, the reaction for breakdown of hydrogen peroxide (\text{H}_{2}H
2
start text, H, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript\text{O}_{2}O
2
start text, O, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript) into water and oxygen can be written as:
2 \text{H}_{2}2H
2
2, start text, H, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript\text{O}_{2} \text{(hydrogen peroxide)}O
2
(hydrogen peroxide)start text, O, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript, start text, left parenthesis, h, y, d, r, o, g, e, n, space, p, e, r, o, x, i, d, e, right parenthesis, end text \rightarrow→right arrow 2\text{H}_{2}\text O \text{(water)}2H
2
O(water)2, start text, H, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript, start text, O, end text, start text, left parenthesis, w, a, t, e, r, right parenthesis, end text + \text{O}_{2}\text{(oxygen)}O
2
(oxygen)start text, O, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript, start text, left parenthesis, o, x, y, g, e, n, right parenthesis, end text
In this example hydrogen peroxide is our reactant, and it gets broken down into water and oxygen, our products. The atoms that started out in hydrogen peroxide molecules are rearranged to form water molecules (\text{H}_{2}\text OH
2
Ostart text, H, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript, start text, O, end text) and oxygen molecules (\text O_2O
2
start text, O, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript).
You may have noticed extra numbers in the chemical equation above: the 222s in front of hydrogen peroxide and water. These numbers are called coefficients, and they tell us how many of each molecule participate in the reaction. They must be included in order to make our equation balanced, meaning that the number of atoms of each element is the same on the two sides of the equation.
Equations must be balanced to reflect the law of conservation of matter, which states that no atoms are created or destroyed over the course of a normal chemical reaction. You can learn more about balancing reactions in the balancing chemical equations tutorial.
Reversibility and equilibrium
Some chemical reactions simply run in one direction until the reactants are used up. These reactions are said to be irreversible. Other reactions, however, are classified as reversible. Reversible reactions can go in both the forward and backward directions.
In a reversible reaction, reactants turn into products, but products also turn back into reactants. In fact, both the forward reaction and its opposite will take place at the same time. This back and forth continues until a certain relative balance between reactants and products is reached—a state called equilibrium. At equilibrium, the forward and backward reactions are still happening, but the relative concentrations of products and reactants no longer change.
Each reaction has its own characteristic equilibrium point, which we can describe with a number called the equilibrium constant. To learn where the equilibrium constant comes from and how to calculate it for a specific reaction, check out the equilibrium topic.
When a reaction is classified as reversible, it is usually written with paired forward and backward arrows to show it can go both ways. For example, in human blood, excess hydrogen ions (\text H^+H
+
start text, H, end text, start superscript, plus, end superscript) bind to bicarbonate ions (\text{HCO}_{3}HCO
3
start text, H, C, O, end text, start subscript, 3, end subscript^{-}
−
start superscript, minus, end superscript), forming carbonic acid (\text{H}_{2}H
2
start text, H, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript\text{CO}_{3}CO
3
start text, C, O, end text, start subscript, 3, end subscript):
\text{HCO}_{3}HCO
3
start text, H, C, O, end text, start subscript, 3, end subscript^{-}
−
start superscript, minus, end superscript + \text{H}^{+}H
+
start text, H, end text, start superscript, plus, end superscript \rightleftharpoons⇌\rightleftharpoons \text{H}_{2}H
2
start text, H, end text, start subscript, 2, end subscript\text{CO}_{3}CO
3
start text, C, O, end text, start subscript, 3, end subscript
Since this is a reversible reaction, if carbonic acid were added to the system, some of it would be turned into bicarbonate and hydrogen ions to restore equilibrium. In fact, this buffer system plays a key role in keeping your blood pH stable and healthy.
[Attribution and references]
Studying for a test?
Prepare with these 3 lessons on Chemistry of life.
