Chemical Reactions and Chemical Equations

Question 1

What are the reactants and the products in the following chemical equation?

A (s) + B (l) —> AB (aq)

Answer 1

The reactants are on the left, and the products are on the right.

Reactant A + Reactant B —> Product AB

Question 2

What are the subscripts used to describe what state each chemical is in?

Answer 2

(s) = solid
(l) = liquid
(g) = gas
(aq) = aqueus: this means the substance is dissolved in water to form a solution.

Question 3

What is the law of Conservation of Mass?

Answer 3

Matter cannot be created nor destroyed.

Question 4

What is the purpose of the coefficients in front of the formula, used to balance an equation?

Answer 4

We add these coefficients to make sure the law of conservation of mass is always applied. Meaning if the reactants start with 2 oxygen atoms, the products must finish with the same amount. But you cannot change the formula to make this rule apply (DO NOT CHANGE SUBSCRIPT NUMBERS IN A FORMULA), instead add a coefficient to create more of each atom until it is balanced.