

This is an example of a chemical equation A concise way of representing a chemical reaction., which is a concise way of representing a chemical reaction.

Remembering that hydrogen and oxygen both exist as diatomic molecules, we can rewrite our chemical change as H 2 + O 2 → H 2O But substances can also be represented by chemical formulas. Where the + sign means that the two substances interact chemically with each other and the → symbol implies that a chemical reaction takes place. We can represent this chemical change more succinctly as hydrogen + oxygen → water We can write that as follows: hydrogen reacts with oxygen to make water For example, one chemical property of hydrogen is that it will react with oxygen to make water. Identify the parts of a chemical equation.Ī chemical reaction expresses a chemical change.Because chemical changes are so central, it may be no surprise that chemistry has developed some special ways of presenting them. Indeed, if there were no chemical changes, chemistry as such would not exist! Chemical changes are a fundamental part of chemistry. Although the solid rocket boosters each have a significantly lower mass than the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks, they provide over 80% of the lift needed to put the shuttle into orbit-all because of chemical reactions.Ĭhemistry is largely about chemical changes. The chemical reaction between these substances produces aluminum oxide, water, nitrogen gas, and hydrogen chloride. Then there are the two solid rocket boosters, which use a solid fuel mixture that contains mainly ammonium perchlorate and powdered aluminum. The three main engines are powered by reacting liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen to generate water. The rockets that lift the orbiter are of two different types. The space shuttle-and any other rocket-based system-uses chemical reactions to propel itself into space and maneuver itself when it gets into orbit.
