Each chemical equation represents a specific chemical reaction, and identifies the reactants and products. Reactants appear on the left side of the equation and products on the right side, separated by an arrow indicating the direction in which the reaction takes place. Equations must be balance to be correct, meaning the same number of each kind of atom must appear on each side of the equation. For example, when iron rusts, it combines with oxygen to form a new compound, iron oxide (Fe2O2), and the balanced equation for this reaction is:
In this experiment, four classes of chemical reactions were performed: synthesis, decomposition, single displacement and double displacement. The synthesis reactions combine two or more substances to create a new one, as in the rusting of iron shown above (Some, 2005). In a decomposition reaction, a substance breaks apart into simpler constituents. In a single displacement reaction, one substance in a molecule is replaced by another, and in a double displacement reaction, two molecules swap atoms to form two new substances. After each of these reactions was performed, a balanced equation for the reaction was written to represent the reaction.
A crucible was placed on a balance and 2g of magnesium (Mg) was placed in it and the mass recorded. The crucible was then heated over a Bunsen burner until the data window displayed the contents of the crucible as "unknown." The crucible and its contents were then measured and the mass recorded.
a) mass of empty crucible =53.200g
b) mass of crucible plus 2g Mg =55.200g
c) mass of crucible plus "unknown" product
d) mass of "unknown" product after heating = 3.316g
2. Where did the extra mass come from? The extra mass came
3. The balanced equation for the synthesis reac
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