Chemical Reactions

Davies Mweta PhD

What is a chemical
Reaction?
 Chemical Reaction
• is a process in which one set of
substances called reactants is
converted to a new set of substances
called products.
• is a chemical change that occurs when
two or more substances interact
forming new.
• A process whereby old bonds in
chemical substances break and new
bonds are created, hence the new
substances.
Reactants
• rearrangement of Products
the atoms to produce
How do we know that a
chemical reaction has
taken place?
 Physical Evidence
• Colour change
• Formation of a solid (precipitate)
within a clear solution
• Evidence of a gas (bubbling off)
• Evolution or absorption of heat
 Types of Chemical
Reactions
• Two approaches to classifying
chemical reactions:
– An older approach classified reactions
by comparing the number of
reactants with the number of
products.
– New approach : is based on the
underlying chemical process taking
place in a chemical reaction.
 Old Approach
• Combination or Synthesis reaction
A + B  AB
• Decomposition reactions
AB  A + B
• Displacement reactions:
– Single displacement
AB + C  AC + B
– Metathesis reactions (double-replacement
reactions)
AB + CD  AD + CB
• Combustion reactions  reaction with oxygen
 New Approach
• Precipitation reactions
– Formation of a solid

• Acid-base reactions
– Neutralisation; an acid and a base to form a salt
and water

• Redox reactions:
– Transfer of electrons
Representing Chemical
Reactions
How do we represent a
chemical reaction?
 Chemical Equation
• The chemical change from the reactants to the
products is symbolised by chemical equation.
• Chemical equations to summarise both the
qualitative and quantitative information.
– Qualitatively : what substances are reacting and what
products are being formed.
– Quantitatively the chemical reaction gives the relative
amounts of substances reacting and being produced.
• In the chemical equation, reactants are written to
the left of an arrow and the products to the right of
the arrow: the arrow symbolises a chemical
change.
• Symbols are used to indicate the different physical
states of reactants and products: (s) for solid, (l) for
liquid, (g) for gas, and (aq) for aqueous
 Word Equation vs Chemical
Equation
• Nitrogen monoxide gas reacts with oxygen gas to
form nitrogen dioxide
Nitrogenmonoxide oxygen Nitrogendioxide
NO (g) O 2 (g)  NO 2 (g)

• In chemical equations chemical formula of

compounds are used
 Chemical Formula
• A chemical formula is a shorthand way to show the
composition of a chemical substance
• Calcium chloride is consists of one calcium atom
and two chlorine atoms; therefore its chemical
formula is CaCl2.
• Chemical compounds may be either ionic or
covalent or molecular.
• When writing chemical formula you need to know
symbols of element
• And also the electric charge of the atoms and/or
the valence of the atoms.
 Nomenclature and
Chemical Formula of
Compounds
• There is an international system
for naming compounds
• Regulated by International union of
Pure and Applied Chemists (IUPAC)
• Why do we need an international
System of nomenclature?
Covalent Binary Compounds
• Covalent compounds contain two
or more non-metals.
• Binary compounds i.e.
compounds made up of only two
different elements.
• easily identified compound
because the first element in the
compound name is a non-metal.
 Rules of Nomenclature
• The more electropositive element is written first and
the more electronegative element is written last.
• The second element is given an -ide ending.
• Non-metals forming covalent compounds may
combine in various ratios:
– Prefixes are used to denote how many atoms of each
element are present in the compound. E.g. di-, tri-, tetra-,
penta-
• If there is only one atom of the first element, no
prefix is used. It is customary to prefix the name of
one atom of the second element with mono-.
 Examples
Formu Name Formu Name
la la

CO Carbon NI3 Nitrogen triiodide

monoxide

CO2 Carbon dioxide N2O4 Dinitrogen

tetraoxide

SCl4 Sulphur N2O5 Dinitrogen

tetrachloride pentoxide

SCl6 Sulphur PF5 Phosphorus

hexachloride pentafluoride
 Common Names of Covalent
Compounds
Formu Common Form Name
la name ula

H2O Water NO Nitric oxide

O3 Ozone NO2 Nitrous oxide

NH3 ammonia
 Chemical Formula from
names
• Given the name of a covalent compound,
one should be able to write its chemical
formula.
• How: Writing the symbol of the first and
second element and then translating
prefixes into subscripts.
• Example:
– diphosphorus trisulphide; the formula is
P 2S 3.
 Binary Ionic Compounds
• contain metal ions (cations) and non-metal ions
(anions): cations are positively charged ions
where as anions are negatively charged.
• cations and anions associate with each other
and form a neutral binary compound.
Cation Anion Ionic
Compound
Na+ Cl- NaCl

Ca2+ O2- CaO

K+ N3- K3 N

Al3+ S2- Al2S3

 Nomenclature of Binary ionic
Compounds
• The first part of the name is simply the name of the
metal element.
• The second part of the name is the name of the
non-metal element, with the ending changed to the
suffix –ide.
• For example, Al2O3; the name is aluminium oxide.
• Note that the numbers of the metal and non-metal
elements in the chemical formula do not affect the
name of the compound unlike when naming
covalent compounds.
 Binary Ionic Compounds
Containing a Metal Forming Two
or More Types of Cations
• Some binary ionic compounds contains a transition
metal (d and f block elements)
• The metals in the d and f blocks form two or more
types of cations ad can therefore form more than
one compound.
• Example, iron and chlorine form two different
compounds, FeCl2 and FeCl3.
• To distinguish them, you add a Roman numeral to
indicate the charge on the metal ion. Thus iron (II)
chloride and iron (III) chloride
 Binary Ionic Compounds with
Polyatomic Ions
• the ions can be either monatomic or polyatomic.
• Polyatomic ions consist of two or more non-metal
atoms covalently bonded together, and the entire
group has a positive or negative charge.
Polyatomic Cations Polyatomic anions
Name Chemical Name Chemical
Formula Formula
Ammonium (NH4)+ Hydroxide OH-
Hydronium H3O+ Nitrite NO2-
Nitrate NO3-
Sulphite SO42-
Sulphate SO43-
Carbonate CO32-
Phosphite PO33-
Phosphate PO43-
 Nomenclature of ionic
compounds with Polyatomic
Ions
• Similar to that of simple binary ionic compounds.
• The first part of the name is the name of the cation
and the second part of the name is the name of the
anion.
• Parentheses are put around polyatomic ions if the
formula contains more than one polyatomic ion with
subscript indicating the number of the polyatomic
ions.
• For example, Al2(SO4)3. The name is aluminium
sulphate. Parentheses around the sulphate ion
with a subscript 2 indicate that there are 2 sulphate
ions
 Formulas of Ionic Compounds
• Formulas of ionic compounds are
determined from the charges on the
ions
– Step1: Write symbols for each ion.
– Step 2: Determine charge of each ion.
– Step 3: Add more of either ion, as
needed in order to get a neutral charge
on the compound. (balancing the charge)
– Step 4: Put parentheses around
polyatomic ions.
– Step 5: Subscripts indicate the number of
each ion used.
 Name Ions and their Chemical
Charge Formula
Calcium iodide Ca2+, I- CaI2

Aluminium Al3+, SO42- Al2(SO4)3

sulphate
Sodium nitride Na+, N3- Na3N

Copper (I) oxide Cu+, O2- Cu2O

 Practice Question
• Name the following compounds:
– BaI2
– P4 S3
– Ca(OH)2
– FeCO3
– Na2Cr2O7
– I2O5
– Cu(ClO4)2
– CS2
– B2Cl4
 Practice Question
• Write the chemical formula of the following:
– Dinitrogen monoxide
– Potassium sulfide
– Copper (II) nitrate
– Dichlorine heptoxide
– Chromium (III) sulfate
– Iron (III) sulphite
– Barium carbonate
– Iodine monochloride
 Balancing Chemical
Equations
• In order to have quantitative information about the
reaction, the equation must be balanced so that it
conforms to the Law of Conservation of Matter.
– there must be the same number of atoms of each element
on the right hand side of the equation as there are on the
left hand side.
NO (g) O 2 (g)  NO 2 (g)

• LHS: 1 N atom and 3 O atoms while RHS: 1 N atom

and 2 O atoms
– Need to balance the O atoms. How?
• The balancing of the equation is accomplished by
introducing the proper number or coefficient or a
multiple before each formula not as subscripts
– There is no quick formula for balancing an equation; it is all
by trial and error!
 Balancing Chemical
equations.....
• The numbers in front of the chemical formula are
coefficients required to balance a chemical
equation and they are called stoichiometric
coefficients.
• In balancing a chemical equation, the equation can
be balanced only by adjusting the coefficients of
formulas, as necessary. Never introduce extraneous
atom or molecules into equation and never change
formulas for the purpose of balancing an equation
• All chemical species appear as correct formula
units. The addition (or change) of a subscript
changes the meaning of the formula unit and of the
equation.
• Coefficients in front of a formula unit multiply that
entire formula unit.
 Balancing Chemical
equations.....
• To balance the number of O atoms, put 2 in front of
the NO2. The equation now becomes:

NO (g) O 2 (g)  2NO 2 (g)

• LHS: 1 N atom and 3 O atoms, and RHS = 2N atoms
and 4 O atoms
• To balance the number of N and O atoms, put 2 in
front of the NO. The equation now becomes:

2NO (g) O 2 (g)  2NO 2 (g)

• Now LHS = 2 N atoms and 4 O atoms, and RHS = 2N
atoms and 4 O atoms
• Therefore balanced
 Some Tips in Balancing
equations
• If an element occurs in only one compound on
each side of the equation, try balancing this
element first
• When one of the reactants or products exists
as the free element, balance this element last.
• In some reactions, certain groups of atoms
(e.g. polyatomic ions) remain unchanged. In
such case balance these groups as a unit.
• It is permissible to use fractional as well as
coefficients. At times, an equation can be
balanced most easily by using one or more
fractional coefficients and then, if desired,
clearing the fractions by multiplying all
coefficients by a common multiplier.
 Practice
• Balance the following equations:

Al(OH)3 (aq) H2SO4 (aq) Al2 (SO4 )3 (aq) H2O (l)

Cu (s) HNO 3 (aq) Cu(NO3 )2 (aq) NO (g) H2O (l)

KI (aq) Pb(NO3 )2 (aq) KNO 3(aq) PbI2 (s)

Types of Reactions:
Modern Approach
 Precipitation reactions
• Precipitation reactions are double displacement
reactions that result in the formation of an
insoluble compound from two soluble ones.
• Precipitation reactions are characterised by the
formation of an insoluble product or precipitate.
• A precipitate is an insoluble solid that separates
from the solution.
• Precipitation reactions occur because electrostatic
attractions among certain pairs of solvated ions are
strong enough to cause their removal from
solution.
 Example of Precipitation
• reactions
When aqueous solutions of lead nitrate and
potassium sulphate are combined, solid lead
sulphate is formed.
Pb(NO3 )2 (aq) K 2SO4 (aq) 2KNO 3 (aq) PbSO4 (s)

• PbSO4 is the precipitate. However this is a double

displacement reaction as ions in Pb(NO3)2 switch
places with ions in K2SO4 to form two new
compounds, KNO3 and PbSO4.

• Aqueous silver nitrate and sodium chloride react to

form solid silver chloride and aqueous sodium
nitrate.
Predicting a precipitate
reaction
How do we foretell a
precipitation reaction?
 Solubility Rules
• Rule 1: All alkali metal (group IA) compounds are
soluble.
• Rule 2: All ammonium (NH4+) compounds are
soluble.
• Rule 3: All compounds containing nitrate (NO3-),
chlorates (ClO3-) and perchlorate (ClO4-) are soluble.
• Rule 4: Most hydroxides (OH-) are insoluble,
except for alkali metal hydroxides, barium hydroxide
and calcium hydroxide are sparingly solution.
• Rule 5: Most chlorides (Cl-), bromides (Br-) and
iodides (I-) are soluble except those of containing Ag+,
Hg+ and Pb2+.
• Rule 6: All carbonates (CO32-), phosphates (PO43-)
and sulphides (S2-) are insoluble, except those group I
 Steps in predicting
precipitation
• Three basic steps
– Note the ions present in the reactants.
– Consider the possible cation-anion
combinations.
– Decide whether any of the combinations
is insoluble.
• Example: a solution of barium chloride
is mixed with solution of potassium
sulphate. Is this a precipitation
reaction?
 Solution
• Step 1: the ions present in the reactants are Ba2+,
Cl-, K+ and SO42-
• Step 2:the possible anion combinations are Ba2+
and Cl-, K+ and SO42- given as reactants and Ba2+
and SO42-, and K+ and Cl- given as products.
• Step 3:Use the solubility rules to decide whether
any of the combinations given in step 2 above is
insoluble:
• BaCl2 is soluble (Rule 5)
• K2SO4 is soluble (Rule 1)
• BaSO4 is insoluble (Rule 7)
• KCl is soluble (Rule 1)
• Therefore the reaction is a precipitation reaction
and BaSO4 is the precipitate.
 Net Ionic Equation
• Consider the precipitation reaction
Pb(NO3 )2 (aq) K 2SO4 (aq) 2KNO 3 (aq) PbSO4 (s)
• The reaction equation can be written in terms of
ions, showing which particular ions are present in
solution:
Pb 2
aq) 2NO 3- (aq) 2K (aq) SO24- (aq) 2K (aq) 2NO 3- (aq) PbSO4 (s)

• Ions 2K+ and 2NO3- are present in aqueous form

before and after the reaction. They are not involved
in the formation of the precipitate. They are called
spectator ions
• Since the
Pb2ions
(aq) 2K
SO+2-
4
and
(aq)2NO
PbSO -
appear on both sides
34 (s)
of the equation: they ‘cancel out’ and we are left
with:
 Practice
• Predict whether a precipitate will form or not in the
following reactions. In cases where precipitates
form, write the full and net ionic equations.

FeCl3  Cs3PO4 
NaOH  Ba(NO3 )2 

Na2CO3  CaCl2 