Abstract
Physical processes, such as the dissolution of sugar in water, are not chemical reactions. Even if a “new” substance (here: sugar water) appears to be created here, the substance-specific properties of the individual components do not change. It is merely a mixture of the individual components.Neither gold, nor other precious metals or even diamonds can be produced with a chemical reaction. One can only convert existing starting materials into new end materials.Chemical reactions always take place in a certain numerical ratio between the educts and the products. Therefore, a reaction equation can only be correct if the number of atoms of each element involved is also the same on both sides of the reaction equation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, 1711–1765, Russian naturalist and poet.
- 2.
Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier, 1743–1794, French chemist and jurist.
- 3.
Jeremias Benjamin Richter, 1762–1802, Polish chemist and mining expert.
- 4.
Joseph-Louis Proust, 1754–1826, French chemist.
- 5.
Alexander von Humboldt, 1769–1859, German naturalist.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schmiermund, T. (2023). Chemical Reactions: Fundamentals. In: The Chemistry Knowledge for Firefighters. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64423-2_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64423-2_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-64422-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-64423-2
eBook Packages: Chemistry and Materials ScienceChemistry and Material Science (R0)