A chemical reaction is a process that involves the transformation of one or more substances into one or more new substances with different chemical properties. Chemical reactions occur when atoms or molecules interact with one another and exchange or rearrange their constituent parts.
Chemical reactions are expressed using chemical equations, which contain symbols and formulas that represent the reactants, products, and conditions of the reaction. The reactants are listed on the left-hand side of the equation and the products on the right-hand side. An arrow points from the reactants to the products, indicating the direction of the reaction.
For example, the chemical reaction between hydrogen gas and oxygen gas to form water can be expressed as:
2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O
In this equation, the numbers in front of the reactants and products indicate the relative proportions of each substance involved in the reaction. The arrow shows that the reaction proceeds from left to right.
What is a chemical reaction and how is it expressed
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