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Chemistry · Glossary

What is Word equation?

Definition 12.8 School Chemistry — Grades 1 to 12 · Chapter 12 — Chemical Reactions: Reactants and Products

A word equation writes a chemical reaction in words: the names of the reactants on the left, joined by ++, an arrow, and the names of the products on the right. The arrow reads “react to give”.

Examples

Example 12.9 (Three word equations)

carbon ++ oxygen ⟶\longrightarrow carbon dioxide
methane ++ oxygen ⟶\longrightarrow carbon dioxide ++ water
iron ++ oxygen ⟶\longrightarrow iron oxide
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