General chemistryLesson 1 of 2 in the course Stoichiometry of Chemical Reactions

Chemical Equations: Balancing, State Symbols, and Ionic Equations

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Chemical equations use chemical formulas and symbols to describe the substances involved in a change and their relative amounts. This lesson introduces the parts of an equation and explains how coefficients express ratios.

A chemical equation places the reactants on the left and the products on the right. An arrow points from the reactants to the products, indicating the direction of the represented change. Plus signs separate multiple substances on the same side.

All flashcards

What is a balanced chemical equation?
An equation with equal numbers of atoms of every element on both sides.
What is a molecular equation?
An equation that writes dissolved ionic compounds as intact formula units.
What is a complete ionic equation?
An equation that represents soluble aqueous ionic compounds as separate ions.
What is a net ionic equation?
An equation showing the chemical change after spectator ions are omitted.
What do the state symbols (s), (l), (g), and (aq) indicate?
Whether a substance is solid, liquid, gas, or dissolved in water.

Quiz questions

  1. When is a chemical equation balanced?Answer: When each element has the same number of atoms on both sides.
  2. Which substances are split into ions when writing a complete ionic equation?Answer: Soluble ionic compounds dissolved in water.
  3. In a complete ionic equation, calcium and nitrate ions appear unchanged on both sides. What are they called?Answer: Spectator ions.
  4. How is a net ionic equation obtained from a complete ionic equation?Answer: Cancel identical spectator ions from both sides.
  5. What does Δ written above a reaction arrow indicate?Answer: The reaction is carried out with heating.

Based on Chemistry 2e by Paul Flowers, Klaus Theopold, Richard Langley, William R. Robinson, PhD (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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