2.3 Chemical reactions  (Page 2/24)

Forms of energy important in human functioning

You have already learned that chemical energy is absorbed, stored, and released by chemical bonds. In addition to chemical energy, mechanical, radiant, and electrical energy are important in human functioning.

• Mechanical energy, which is stored in physical systems such as machines, engines, or the human body, directly powers the movement of matter. When you lift a brick into place on a wall, your muscles provide the mechanical energy that moves the brick.
• Radiant energy is energy emitted and transmitted as waves rather than matter. These waves vary in length from long radio waves and microwaves to short gamma waves emitted from decaying atomic nuclei. The full spectrum of radiant energy is referred to as the electromagnetic spectrum. The body uses the ultraviolet energy of sunlight to convert a compound in skin cells to vitamin D, which is essential to human functioning. The human eye evolved to see the wavelengths that comprise the colors of the rainbow, from red to violet, so that range in the spectrum is called “visible light.”
• Electrical energy, supplied by electrolytes in cells and body fluids, contributes to the voltage changes that help transmit impulses in nerve and muscle cells.

Characteristics of chemical reactions

All chemical reactions begin with a reactant    , the general term for the one or more substances that enter into the reaction. Sodium and chloride ions, for example, are the reactants in the production of table salt. The one or more substances produced by a chemical reaction are called the product    .

In chemical reactions, the components of the reactants—the elements involved and the number of atoms of each—are all present in the product(s). Similarly, there is nothing present in the products that are not present in the reactants. This is because chemical reactions are governed by the law of conservation of mass, which states that matter cannot be created or destroyed in a chemical reaction.

Just as you can express mathematical calculations in equations such as 2 + 7 = 9, you can use chemical equations to show how reactants become products. As in math, chemical equations proceed from left to right, but instead of an equal sign, they employ an arrow or arrows indicating the direction in which the chemical reaction proceeds. For example, the chemical reaction in which one atom of nitrogen and three atoms of hydrogen produce ammonia would be written as \text{N + 3H}\to {\text{NH}}_{\text{3}} . Correspondingly, the breakdown of ammonia into its components would be written as {\text{NH}}_{\text{3}}\to \text{N + 3H.}

Notice that, in the first example, a nitrogen (N) atom and three hydrogen (H) atoms bond to form a compound. This anabolic reaction requires energy, which is then stored within the compound’s bonds. Such reactions are referred to as synthesis reactions. A synthesis reaction    is a chemical reaction that results in the synthesis (joining) of components that were formerly separate ( [link] a ). Again, nitrogen and hydrogen are reactants in a synthesis reaction that yields ammonia as the product. The general equation for a synthesis reaction is \text{A + B}\to \text{AB.}