Double Replacement Reaction Lab Report

Have you ever gone out on a midsummer night, and seen the familiar flash and subsequent boom of a firework going off? Did you ever wonder what might be causing that firework to explode in a seemingly random fashion? What you are seeing is actually a chemical reaction or the process by which the atoms of one or more substances are rearranged to form different substances. This definition covers all forms of chemical changes, and to better organize this broad spectrum of reactions, scientists have defined several types of reactions. Most importantly, they defined the arrangement of atoms before the reaction occurs as the, “reactants” of a chemical equation, and the arrangement of atoms at the end as the, “products” of a chemical equation. The

The double replacement reaction consists of two compounds that then switch similar elements with each other (AB+CD=AD+CB), similar to the single replacement reaction. This creates two new compounds, but, as with single replacement reactions, a reaction will not occur if a special rule is not followed. Since the reaction takes place in a water solution, one of the two products must be a precipitate, an insoluble compound, or a gas, or water, while the other must be an aqueous, a soluble compound. An example of this would be the exchange between potassium chromate (K2CrO4) and lead nitrate (Pb(NO3)2). The two compounds switch metals to create an aqueous potassium nitrate (KNO3) and a lead chromate precipitate (PbCrO4). An everyday example of this is when the acid rain (H2SO4) threat mentioned earlier in this passage reacts with limestone statues (CaCO3). Calcium (Ca) switches with the hydrogen (H) to create calcium sulfate (CaSO4), an aqueous solution that essentially dissolves parts of the statue, and carbonic acid (H2CO3), which quickly decomposes into carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) (Acid rain, N.D.). This equation is responsible for many classic artistic works falling apart and is yet another reason why acid rain needs to be