Chapter 11

Chemical Reactions
Evidence of a Chemical Reaction
1. Color Change
2. Energy Change (gets cold or hot)
- Exothermic: a reaction or process that releases energy
- Endothermic: a reaction or process that requires energy
3. Odor Change
4. Precipitate: solid formed from a mixture of solutions
5. Gas Produced
6. Irreversible Process
7. New Properties
Chemical Equations
• Chemical Equation: a representation of a chemical reaction
• Formulas of the reactants (on the left) are connected by an arrow with the
formulas of the products (on the right)

2HCl (aq) + Mg (s)  MgCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

Reactants Products
Symbols in chemical equations

aqueous solution (aq):

Substance dissolved in
water
Catalyst
• Catalyst: a substance or process that speeds up the reaction

1. Homogeneous Catalyst:
- One in the same physical state as the reactant
𝑁𝑎𝐼 𝑎𝑞
2H2O2 (aq) 2H2O (g) + O2 (g)
2. Heterogeneous Catalyst:
- One in a different physical state
𝑀𝑛𝑂2 𝑠
2H2O2 (aq) 2H2O (g) + O2 (g)

• General Examples of Catalysts:

- Compounds or elements
- Heat 
- Light
- Aqueous Solutions
 Steps to balancing chemical equations
1. Write down your given equation

2. Write down the number of atom per element that you have on each side of the
equation

3. Use coefficients to balance the elements, one at a time

- Coefficient: Whole number written before the molecule
- Never balance an equation by changing subscripts

4. Check each atom or polyatomic ion to be sure they are equal

5. Make sure all coefficients are in the lowest possible ratio

Examples
_____ Ca (s) + _____ HCl (aq)  _____ CaCl2 (aq) + _____ H2 (g)

_____ Al + _____ H2SO4  _____ Al2(SO4)3 + _____ H2

_____ C7H14 + _____ O2  _____ CO2 + _____ H2O

Examples - Answers

Ca (s) + 2 HCl (aq)  CaCl2 (aq) + H2 (g)

2 Al + 3 H2SO4  Al2(SO4)3 + 3 H2

2(C7H14 + 10.5 O2  7 CO2 + 7 H2O) =

2 C7H14 + 21 O2  14 CO2 + 14 H2O
Classifying Chemical Reactions
• 5 Basic Types of Reactions:
1) Synthesis (Combination) Reaction:
- Two or more substances react to form a single product
- A + X  AX
- 4 Al (s) + 3 O2 (g)  2Al2O3 (s)

2) Decomposition Reaction:
- A single compound broken into two or more products
- Most require energy to occur
- AX  A + X
- 2HgO (s)  2 Hg (l) + O2 (g)
Classifying Chemical Reactions
3) Combustion Reaction:
- Oxygen reacts with a substance to release energy
- Some are also synthesis reactions
- C (s) + O2 (g)  CO2 (g)
- Most are reactions with hydrocarbons (compounds with carbon
and hydrogen)
- CH4 (g) + 2 O2 (g)  CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)
4) Single Replacement Reaction:
- An element replaces on part of a compound
- Activity Series: a list of elements in decreasing reactivity
- An element will replace anything that is less active
- Reactions can be predicted based on the series
- A + BX  AX + B or Y + BX  BY + X
- Mg (s) + Zn (NO3)2 (aq)  Mg(NO3)2 (aq) + Zn (s)

5) Double Replacement Reaction:

- Exchange of ions between two compounds
- May end in a precipitate
- AX + BY  AY + BX
- Na2S (aq) + Cd(NO3)2 (aq)  CdS (s) + 2 NaNO3 (aq)
Reaction Mechanisms
1. Reactions that form water:
• Water is produced, chemicals are neutralized

Acid + Base  Salt + Water (Double replacement)

- Acid: begins with a hydrogen atom (H)
- Base: contains hydroxide (OH)
- Salt: ionic compound

Example: 2HI + Cu(OH)2  CuI2 + 2H2O

HCl + NaOH  NaCl + H2O
Reaction Mechanisms
2. Reactions that form a metal:

Metal + Salt  Metal + Salt (Single replacement)

Example: 2Fe + 3CuSO4  3Cu + Fe2(SO4)3

Na + AgNO3  Ag + NaNO3
Reaction Mechanisms
3. Reactions that form a gas:
A. Hydrogen Gas
Metal + Acid  Salt + H2 gas (Single Replacement)
2Na + H2SO4  Na2SO4 + H2
Ca + 2HCl  CaCl2 + H2

B. Hydrogen Sulfide Gas (H2S)

Metal Sulfide + Acid  salt + H2S (Double Replacement)
MgS + 2HCl  MgCl2 + H2S

C. CO2 Gas
(bi) carbonate + acid  salt + water + CO2
HCl + NaHCO3  NaCl + H2O + CO2
 Reactions in Aqueous Solution
• Aqueous Solution: a substance dissolved in water
• Solvent: substance doing the dissolving
• Water is the universal solvent
• Solute: substance being dissolved

•Predicting the product state:

• Cations and anions will combine and either form a precipitate or no
precipitate. When a combination is SOLUBLE it means it was dissolved
in water and an aqueous solution formed. INSOLUBLE combinations
do not dissolve and instead form a solid precipitate.
Representing reactions in aqueous solutions
1. Molecular equation
- Shows formulas of all parts that are mixed
- 2NaOH(aq) + CuCl2 (aq)  2NaCl (aq) + Cu(OH)2 (s)
2. Complete ionic
- Shows particles as they interact with water
- **Only aqueous solutions break into charged particles**
- 2Na+ + 2OH- + Cu2+ + 2Cl-  2Na+ + 2Cl- + Cu(OH)2(s)
3. Net ionic
- Shows only those particles that are directly involved in the chemical change
- **Only aqueous solutions break into charged particles**
- Eliminate the ions that remain unchanged – spectator ions
- 2Na+ + 2OH- + Cu2+ + 2Cl-  2Na+ + 2Cl- + Cu(OH)2(s)
- Net ionic: 2OH- + Cu2+  Cu(OH)2(s)
No Reactions
• Once you complete the Net Ionic Equation, if all the ions
“cancel out” there is no reaction.
• Occurs when all the reactants and products are aqueous
solutions

Example:
NaCl (aq) + KBr (aq)⟶NaBr (aq) +KCl (aq)
Na+ + Cl- + K+ + Br- ⟶ Na+ + Br- + K+ + Cl-