Use the formation of water from hydrogen and oxygen to explain the following terms: chemical reaction, reactant, product.

Short Answer

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In the context of the formation of water from hydrogen and oxygen: A chemical reaction is the process of hydrogen and oxygen converting to water. The reactants, hydrogen and oxygen are the starting substances of the reaction. The product, water, is the outcome of the reaction.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the Chemical Reaction

A chemical reaction is a process in which one or more substances, known as reactants, convert to one or more different substances, known as products. In the formation of water, the chemical reaction can be illustrated by the following equation: \(2H2 (g) + O2 (g) \rightarrow 2H2O(l)\). This equation tells us that two molecules of hydrogen gas reacts with one molecule of oxygen gas to form two molecules of water.
02

Identifying the Reactants

The reactants are the substances that start a chemical reaction. These are the substances present before the reaction takes place, and they are shown on the left side of the chemical equation. For our example, the reactants are hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). These substances react with each other to form a new substance which is water.
03

Identifying the Product

The product is the substance produced by a chemical reaction, formed from the reactants. It's what we have as a result of the reaction, and is shown on the right side of the chemical equation. In our example, the product of the chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen is water (H2O). Thus, after the chemical reaction, water is produced from hydrogen and oxygen.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Explain clearly what is meant by the statement "The atomic mass of gold is 197.0 amu."

What is the difference between a chemical reaction and a chemical equation?

(a) A research chemist used a mass spectrometer to study the two isotopes of an element. Over time, she recorded a number of mass spectra of these isotopes. On analysis, she noticed that the ratio of the taller peak (the more abundant isotope) to the shorter peak (the less abundant isotope) gradually increased with time. Assuming that the mass spectrometer was functioning normally, what do you think was causing this change? (b) Mass spectrometry can be used to identify the formulas of molecules having small molecular masses. To illustrate this point, identify the molecule which most likely accounts for the observation of a peak in a mass spectrum at: 16 amu, 17 amu, 18 amu, and 64 amu. (c) Note that there are (among others) two likely molecules that would give rise to a peak at 44 amu, namely, \(\mathrm{C}_{3} \mathrm{H}_{8}\) and \(\mathrm{CO}_{2}\). In such cases, a chemist might try to look for other peaks generated when some of the molecules break apart in the spectrometer. For example, if a chemist sees a peak at 44 amu and also one at 15 amu, which molecule is producing the 44 -amu peak? Why? (d) Using the following precise atomic masses: \({ }^{1} \mathrm{H}(1.00797\) amu \(),{ }^{12} \mathrm{C}(12.00000 \mathrm{amu}),\) and \({ }^{16} \mathrm{O}(15.99491 \mathrm{amu}),\) how precisely must the masses of \(\mathrm{C}_{3} \mathrm{H}_{8}\) and \(\mathrm{CO}_{2}\) be measured to distinguish between them? (e) Every year millions of dollars' worth of gold is stolen. In most cases the gold is melted down and shipped abroad. This way the gold retains its value while losing all means of identification. Gold is a highly unreactive metal that exists in nature in the uncombined form. During the mineralization of gold, that is, the formation of gold nuggets from microscopic gold particles, various elements such as cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and zinc \((\mathrm{Zn})\) are incorporated into the nuggets. The amounts and types of the impurities or trace elements in gold vary according to the location where it was mined. Based on this knowledge, describe how you would identify the source of a piece of gold suspected of being stolen from Fort Knox, the federal gold depository.

Tin(II) fluoride \(\left(\mathrm{SnF}_{2}\right)\) is often added to toothpaste as an ingredient to prevent tooth decay. What is the mass of \(\mathrm{F}\) in grams in \(24.6 \mathrm{~g}\) of the compound?

A mixture of methane \(\left(\mathrm{CH}_{4}\right)\) and ethane \(\left(\mathrm{C}_{2} \mathrm{H}_{6}\right)\) of mass \(13.43 \mathrm{~g}\) is completely burned in oxygen. If the total mass of \(\mathrm{CO}_{2}\) and \(\mathrm{H}_{2} \mathrm{O}\) produced is \(64.84 \mathrm{~g},\) calculate the fraction of \(\mathrm{CH}_{4}\) in the mixture.

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