Chapter 6: Chemical Reactions - An Introduction

Practice vocabulary terms related to evidence of chemical reactions, the components of chemical equations, and the rules for balancing them based on Chapter 6.

Evidence of a Chemical Reaction

Visual clues or signals that a chemical change has occurred, including color changes, the formation of a solid, the formation of bubbles, or the production or absorption of heat.

Reactants

The substances in a chemical reaction shown to the left of the arrow.

Products

The substances in a chemical reaction shown to the right of the arrow.

Chemical Equation

A representation of a chemical reaction that involves a rearrangement of the ways atoms are grouped together.

$$\text{(s)}$$

The notation used in a chemical equation to represent a solid state.

$$\text{(l)}$$

The notation used in a chemical equation to represent a liquid state.

$$\text{(g)}$$

The notation used in a chemical equation to represent a gas state.

$$\text{(aq)}$$

The notation used in a chemical equation to represent a substance dissolved in water, such as $KOH(aq)$, standing for aqueous.

Conservation of Atoms

The principle that atoms are neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction, meaning all atoms present in the reactants must be accounted for in the products.

Balancing a Chemical Equation

The process of making the number of each type of atom the same on both sides of the arrow by adding coefficients without changing the subscripts of the formulas.

Coefficients

Smallest integers placed in front of chemical formulas in a balanced equation to show the ratio of the number of molecules reacting and being produced.

Subscripts

The numbers within a chemical formula that define the identity of the compound and must never be changed when balancing a chemical equation.

Standard Form

A balanced chemical equation where the coefficients are the lowest multiple integers.