Chemical Reactions and Equilibrium

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from the lecture on chemical reactions, reactants, products, and equilibrium.

Reactants

The starting materials in a chemical reaction.

Products

The substances produced by a chemical reaction.

Bidirectional arrows

Symbols indicating that a chemical reaction can proceed in both forward (left-to-right) and reverse (right-to-left) directions.

Forward reaction

A chemical reaction proceeding from reactants to products (left-to-right).

Reverse reaction

A chemical reaction proceeding from products to reactants (right-to-left).

Chemical equilibrium

The state in a chemical reaction where the rate of formation of products equals the rate of formation of reactants, with concentrations of products and reactants remaining constant.

Biological systems

Environments where many chemical reactions do not reach equilibrium because products are rapidly converted to different substances through subsequent reactions.