When we study chemical reactions, it's important to understand reactants.

What Are Reactants?

Reactants are the starting materials that change during a chemical reaction. They eventually turn into products. Learning how this change happens is important for understanding different chemical reactions.

Key Points about Reactants:

1. Types of Reactants:

   • Elements: These are simple substances like hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O). They can react with each other. For example, when hydrogen gas mixes with oxygen gas, they create water:
     $2H_2 + O_2 \rightarrow 2H_2O$

   • Compounds: These are made of two or more elements, like sodium chloride (NaCl), which is table salt. Compounds can also break apart or combine in reactions.

2. Factors that Influence Reactions:

   • The type of reactants can affect how fast a reaction happens and how much product is made. For instance, some metals are more reactive than others. In a reaction where zinc reacts with copper sulfate, zinc pushes out the copper:
     $Zn + CuSO_4 \rightarrow ZnSO_4 + Cu$

3. Balanced Equations:

   • Writing balanced chemical equations is important. It helps us see how many reactants are needed to make products. This shows that the number of atoms stays the same, which is called the conservation of mass.

In summary, knowing about reactants and their properties is crucial for predicting what will happen in chemical reactions!