Question

5 (a) What do you mean by chemical equation? Discuss all terms used in it.

Answer 1

• A statement that describes a chemical reaction in terms of symbols and formulae is called a chemical equation.
• Reactants are substances that are consumed or react in a chemical reaction whereas products are substances that are produced during a chemical reaction.
• In general, we write the chemical equation :
  Reactant → Product
• The reactant is written on the left-hand side of the arrow, while the product is written on the right-hand side of the arrow.
• The sign of arrow (→) is read as to yield or to form.
• For example, $\underset{\mathrm{Hydrogen}\mathrm{Oxygen}\mathrm{Water}}{2{\mathrm{H}}_2+{\mathrm{O}}_2\to 2{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}}$
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the reactants as they are on the left-hand side of the arrow, and water is the product as it is on the right-hand side of the arrow.