(a) Define chemical reaction. (b) What is a chemical equation? (c) Why do we need to balance chemical equations?
Answers:
(a) Chemical reaction : Any chemical change in matter which involves its transformation into one or more new substances is called a chemical reaction.
(b) Chemical equation : A chemical equation is the symbolic representation of a chemical reaction using the symbols and the formula of the substances involved in the reaction.
(c) A chemical equation needs to be balanced so as to make the number of the atoms of the reactants equal to the number of the atoms of the products.