Video Transcript
An experiment shows that hydrogen
peroxide decomposes to form water and oxygen gas. Which of the following word
equations describes the chemical reaction that has occurred in this experiment? (A) Hydrogen peroxide decomposes to
form water plus oxygen. (B) Hydrogen peroxide plus oxygen
react to form water. (C) Hydrogen peroxide decomposes to
form peroxide plus hydrogen. (D) Hydrogen peroxide decomposes to
form hydrogen and oxygen peroxide. Or (E) hydrogen peroxide plus water
react to form oxygen.
This question is asking us to form
a word equation from the experimental detail given. Let’s start by finding our
reactants. Reactants are always on the
left-hand side of our reaction arrow. In this case, we only have one
reactant, since only one substance is listed and we have the phrase decomposes to
form. Decomposes means that one substance
breaks down into one or more other substances. So here, we have the beginning of
our reaction equation. Hydrogen peroxide decomposes to
form something.
Now, let’s look for the
products. The question tells us that the
products are water and oxygen gas. So these should be written on the
right of our reaction arrow. So here, we’ve written the reaction
equation from the details given to us in the experiment. Now we just have to match it with
one of our potential answers. We can see that the correct
matching answer is (A). Remember that the order of the
reactants or the products makes no difference.
