CHEMICAL REACTIONS #1

Chemical Reactions

Let's start with the idea of a reaction. In chemistry, a reaction happens when two or more molecules interact and the molecules change. That's it. What molecules are they? How do they interact? What happens? The possibilities are infinite. When you are trying to understand reactions, imagine that you are working with the atoms. Imagine the building blocks are right in front of you on the table, instead of billions of reactions in your beaker. Sometimes we do this using our chemistry toys to help us visualize the movement of the atoms. There are a few key points you should know about chemical reactions: 

1. A chemical change must occur. You start with one compound and turn it into another. That's an example of a chemical change. A steel garbage can rusting is a chemical reaction. That rusting happens because the iron (Fe) in the metal combines with oxygen (O₂) in the atmosphere. When a refrigerator or air conditioner cools the air, there is no reaction between the air molecules. The change in temperature is a physical change. When you melt an ice cube, it is a physical change. When you put bleach in the washing machine to clean your clothes, a chemical change breaks up your stains. 

2. A reaction could include ions, compounds, or molecules of a single element. We said molecules in the previous paragraph, but a reaction can happen with anything, just as long as a chemical change occurs (not a physical one). If you put pure hydrogen gas (H₂) and pure oxygen gas in a room, they can be involved in a reaction. The slow rate of reaction will have the atoms bonding to form water (H₂O) very slowly. If you were to add a spark, those gases would create a reaction that would result in a huge explosion. Chemists call that spark a catalyst. 

3. Single reactions often happen as part of a larger series of reactions. Take something as simple as moving your arm. The contraction of that muscle requires sugars for energy. Those sugars need to be metabolized. You'll find that proteins need to move in a certain way to make the muscle contract. A whole series (hundreds) of different reactions are needed to make that simple movement happen. In the case of your arm, some are physical changes and some are chemical. In the process of making sugars in a plant, you might have as many as a dozen chemical changes to get through the Calvin cycle which makes glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) molecules.