Chemical Reactions

CHAPTER 7
Describing Reactions

SECTION 7.1
 Learning Targets

 Interpret chemical equations in terms of reactants,

products and conservation of mass.

 Balance chemical equations by manipulating coefficients

 Convert between moles and mass of a substance using

molar mass.

 Calculate amounts of reactants or products by using

molar mass, mole ratios, and balanced chemical
equations.
 Remember?

Physical Change Chemical Change

Properties change, but the Substances react and form one or

substances stay the same…wood more new substance. Metal,
is still wood. oxygen & water  rust
 Chemical Equations

 Being able to have a before & after comparison

allows you to understand how change occurs.

 Chemical equations help chemists understand what

happens during a chemical reaction by comparing
the compounds that go “in” and those that come
“out”
 REACTANTS: substances that undergo the chemical
reaction…the “BEFORE”

 PRODUCTS: substances that are the result of the

chemical reaction…the “AFTER”
 Equations Represent Reactions

 Reactants change into products

Reactants  Products

 The reaction to describe the burning of coal…

Carbon + Oxygen  Carbon Dioxide

(Word Equation)

Or

C + O2  CO2
(Chemical Equation)
 A CHEMICAL EQUATION is a representation of a
chemical reaction in which the reactants and
products are expressed as formulas.

Fe + O2  Fe2O3

 This equation is read as:

“Iron and oxygen gas react to form iron oxide”
OR
“Iron and oxygen gas yields iron oxide”
 Conservation of Mass

 We’ve talked about this before in terms of matter and

energy—things cannot be created or destroyed, only
changed!

 This is true of mass as well!

 As the coal burns, the pile appears to get smaller…but it’s not
disappearing into a pile of ash!

 The carbon and oxygen are being converted into carbon dioxide.

 You can see this by looking at the chemical equation…the

reactants will always equal the products
C + O2  CO2
Products:
C=1
O=2

Reactants:
C= 1
O=2
 Balancing Equations

 Because mass is conserved in a chemical reaction, we

have to make sure that the chemical equation is
BALANCED.

 The number of atoms in the reactants must equal the number

of atoms in the products

 WHY counting atoms was (and is) so important!

Let’s Look At Water (H2O)

H2 + O2  H2O
This equation is unbalanced
Reactants: Products:
H=2 H=2
O=2 O=1

How can we fix this?

We CANNOT change the elements or the compound.

Jar Peanut Butter + Jar Jelly + Loaf Bread  PBJ Sandwich

We CAN change the number of atoms or compounds
present.

1 1 1 14
___Jar Peanut Butter + ___Jar Jelly + ____Loaf Bread  _____PBJ Sandwich

This balancing can be achieved by changing the

COEFFICIENT in front of the atom/compound
Back to the water…
Reactants: Products:
H=2 H=2
O=2 O=1

H 2 + O2  H 2 O
2 2 + ____O
____H 1 2  ____H
2 2O
First step, get the # of oxygen equal!
Now that we’ve done that, check to see if the hydrogen is equal…
It’s not!

Balance the number of hydrogen now.

 Some Tips & Hints & Suggestions

1. There is no right or wrong way to do this (but there

is a right answer).

2. Use pencil

3. Show/record your work! (T-chart)

4. Check your work!