Question

In chemical reactions, the __________ are the starting materials that are converted into the __________.

A) products; reactants

B) reactants; un-rearranged matter

C) reactants; products

D) reactants; destroyed atoms

Answer 1

In chemical reactions, the starting materials are called reactants, which are transformed into products. These terms are used to describe what exists before and after a chemical process, respectively.

Step-by-step explanation:

In chemical reactions, the substances that are present at the beginning are called reactants, and these are converted into different substances known as products. To represent this change, a chemical equation is written with reactants on the left side, an arrow pointing to the right, and the products on the right side. The substances are not destroyed or un-rearranged; they are simply transformed from reactants into products through chemical processes.

For instance, consider the reaction for the combustion of methane: CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O. In this equation, methane (CH4) and oxygen (O2) are the reactants, and carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) are the products. Note that the atoms from the reactants are reorganized to form the products; none are created or destroyed, following the law of conservation of mass.

The correct answer to the question is therefore C) reactants; products.