Chemical Reactions Links

Simple Thermodynamics

Chemical Bonding

Endothermic Reactions (Fun activity)

Exothermic Reactions (Fun Activity)

A Simple Schooling Explanation of Chemical Reactions

Is it Chemistry? Biology? Or Physics?

Actually, chemical reactions are a major player in all three of the basic sciences because life cannot exist unless elements and compounds can combine and transform from one to another. A chemical reaction is the process by which this interconversion of substances takes place.

There are a few basic components that you should understand before getting into more specifics, so let's cover them first:

Reactant - a reactant is the element or compound that is used up or consumed during a chemical reaction

Product - a product is the substance that is created after the chemical reaction takes place

Chemical property - a chemical property of an element or compound describes the way in which a substance can or will change, or react, to form other substances. An example of a chemical property is flammability (ability of the substance to burn in the presence of oxygen)

Physical property - a physical property is a property of an element or compound that can be measured without changing the subtance including color, weight, density, melting point, odor etc.

Chemical change - occurs when the reactant undergoes a chemical reaction and changes in a fundamental way - such as when you fry eggs, turn pancake batter into pancakes, or the explosion of fireworks.

Physical change - occurs when you simply change a physical property of a substance without making a new product - such as when you scramble eggs before cooking them, when you freeze water to form ice, or when you heat kernals of corn to make popcorn.

In biology, chemical reactions are how living organisms turn food into energy - this process is called metabolism.

In chemistry, chemical reactions describe how one element or compound transforms into another

In physics, chemical reactions are governed by Laws, such as the Laws of Thermodynamics