Question 4
Explain the following types of chemical reactions giving two examples for each of them:
(a) combination reaction
(b) decomposition reaction
(c) displacement reaction
(d) double displacement reaction
(a) Combination Reaction — A reaction in which two or more substances combine to form a single substance is called a combination reaction. It is also called a synthesis reaction.
Examples:
(i) Two elements combine to form a compound.
When iron and sulphur (both elements) are heated together they combine to form a compound iron sulphide.
Fe (s) + S (s) FeS (s)
(ii) An element and a compound can also combine to form a product.
Carbon monoxide, a compound, burns in presence of oxygen, an element, to form a single product, carbon dioxide.
2CO (g) + O2 (g) 2CO2 (g)
(b) Decomposition Reaction — A reaction in which a compound breaks up on heating into two or more simpler substances is called a decomposition reaction.
Examples:
(i) Calcium carbonate decomposes on strong heating to form two compounds, calcium oxide and carbon dioxide.
CaCO3 (s) CaO (s) + CO2 (g)
(ii) Mercuric oxide when heated decomposes to form mercury and oxygen.
2HgO (s) 2Hg (s) + O2 (g)
(c) Displacement Reaction — A reaction in which a more active element displaces a less active element from a compound is called a displacement reaction.
Examples:
(i) Zinc is more reactive than copper so it displaces copper from copper sulphate solution to form zinc sulphate.
Zn (s) + CuSO4 (aq) ⟶ ZnSO4 (aq) + Cu (s)
(ii) Chlorine is more reactive than bromine, so it displaces bromine from potassium bromide solution.
2KBr + Cl2 ⟶ 2KCl + Br2
(d) Double Displacement Reaction — A chemical reaction in which two compounds in their aqueous state exchange their ions or radicals to form new compounds is called a double decomposition reaction.
AB + CD ⟶ CB + AD
Here AB and CD are reactants. They exchange their ions to form CB and AD which are the products.
Examples:
(i) When a solution of silver nitrate is added to a solution of sodium chloride a precipitate of silver chloride is formed.
AgNO3 (aq) + NaCl (aq) ⟶ NaNO3 (aq) + AgCl ↓
(ii) When ferrous sulphate solution is added to sodium hydroxide solution, a dirty green precipitate of ferrous hydroxide is formed.
FeSO4 (aq) + 2NaOH (aq) ⟶ Fe(OH)2 ↓ + Na2SO4 (aq)