Question

Explain, giving one simple example for the following chemical change :

Decomposition

Answer 1

Decomposition reaction- A decomposition reaction can be defined as a chemical reaction in which one reactant breaks down into two or more products.

• The general format of a decomposition reaction is A ⇢ B + C
• One simple example of this can be the decomposition of carbonic acid in soft drinks.

It can be represented by the chemical equation

$\underset{\mathrm{Carbonic}\mathrm{acid}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{CO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}$

In the above equation, we find Carbonic acid is decomposing to give water and Carbon dioxide.