A chemical equation is a mathematical representation of a chemical reaction. In a chemical equation, the reactants are written on the left side, whereas the products resulting from the chemical reaction are written on the right side. The coefficients next to the entity symbols represent the number of moles of a substance created or consumed during the chemical process. When products and reactants interact with one another, several types of chemical equations are formed.

This article talks about chemical equations. It will provide brief information on the concept of chemical equations in chemistry, a thorough explanation of types of chemical equations, types of chemical reactions, and so on.

Chemical Equations:

A chemical equation can be described as the mathematical representation of writing any chemical reaction in the form of symbols and formulae taking place. In 1615, French chemist Jean Beguin first introduced chemical equations. 

One typical example of a chemical equation is:

6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2

which explains the chemical equation for photosynthesis. The reactant side of the chemical equation is to the left of the arrow sign, while the resulting product is to the right side of the arrow symbol.  

Types of chemical equations

There are six major types of chemical equations. These are as follows – 

  • Combustion reaction: Carbon dioxide and water are formed when oxygen reacts with a molecule. These reactions typically are exothermic, which means they generate heat. 

X + O2 → H2O + CO2

  • Combination reaction: A compound is formed when two or more chemicals come together to generate a new one.

X + Y → XY 

  • Precipitation reaction: When two soluble salt solutions are combined, an insoluble solid called precipitate is formed.

X + soluble salt Y → Precipitate + soluble salt Z

  • Decomposition reaction: The inverse of a combination reaction, in which a complex chemical compound molecule is broken down into simpler ones.

XY → X + Y

  • Neutralisation reaction: An acid and a base combine to form a reaction. In most cases, the result of this interaction is salt along with water. 

Acid + Base → Salt + water

  • Displacement reaction: In the chemical reaction, one element substitutes for another. 

X + YZ → XZ + Y

The traditional way of writing chemical equations 

The first step in balancing chemical equations is to get the imbalanced equation in its completeness.

  • Step 1: Determining the unbalanced equation using the chemical formulae of the reactants and products. The unbalanced chemical equation, for example, is considered as:

C3H8 + O2 → CO2 + H2O

  • Step 2: Compare the total amount of atoms of each element on the reactant and product sides. In line with our above example, with algebraic variables assigned to each species, the equation is represented as:

C3H8 + O2 → CO2 + H2O

  • Step 3: Stoichiometric coefficients are now applied to compounds that contain an element with a varying atomic mass on the reactant and product sides.
  • Step 4: Step 3 is continued until the total atoms of each element of the interacting elements on the reactant and product sides are equal.
  • Step 5: Once all of the individual components have been balanced, the total number of atoms of the elements on the reactant and product sides is evaluated again. The chemical equation is said to be balanced if there are no imbalances. Hence the balanced chemical equation is:

C3H8 + 5O2 → 3CO2 + 4H2O

Standard chemical equation 

To write the chemical formula of a binary combination, the following requirements must be followed:

  1. One must know the valencies of the two components or radicals present.
  2. The sum of the entire number of sample valencies present in a molecule should be zero in a chemical formula.
  3. This can be accomplished by calculating the lowest common multiple of the two valencies.
  4. If the metal is present, it must always be placed at the beginning of the formula.

Conclusion 

With this, we come to an end to the discussion about chemical equations. When you study chemistry, the chemical equation is one fundamental topic that appears in almost every unit. In 1615, French chemist Jean Beguin first introduced chemical equations which is the mathematical representation of writing any chemical reaction in the form of symbols and formulae. 

In this article describing the chemical equations, we studied the concept of the chemical equation in length. We covered several other topics, such as types of chemical equations, traditional ways of writing chemical equations, standard chemical equations, and so on. We hope this study material must have helped you better understand the chemical equations.