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One can differentiate abiotic decomposition from biotic decomposition (biodegradation); the former means "the degradation of a substance by chemical or physical processes", e.g., hydrolysis; the latter means "the metabolic breakdown of materials into simpler components by living organisms", typically by microorganisms.
Decomposition in animals is a process that begins immediately after death and involves the destruction of soft tissue, leaving behind skeletonized remains. The chemical process of decomposition is complex and involves the breakdown of soft tissue, as the body passes through the sequential stages of decomposition . [ 2 ]
Chemical decomposition, or chemical breakdown, is the process or effect of simplifying a single chemical entity (normal molecule, reaction intermediate, etc.) into two or more fragments. [1] Chemical decomposition is usually regarded and defined as the exact opposite of chemical synthesis. In short, the chemical reaction in which two or more ...
Thermal decomposition, or thermolysis, is a chemical decomposition of a substance caused by heat. The decomposition temperature of a substance is the temperature at which the substance chemically decomposes. The reaction is usually endothermic as heat is required to break chemical bonds in the compound undergoing
One example of a decomposition reaction is the electrolysis of water to make oxygen and hydrogen gas: + Single displacement In a single displacement reaction , a single uncombined element replaces another in a compound; in other words, one element trades places with another element in a compound [ 21 ] These reactions come in the general form ...
Destructive distillation is a chemical process in which decomposition of unprocessed material is achieved by heating it to a high temperature; the term generally applies to processing of organic material in the absence of air or in the presence of limited amounts of oxygen or other reagents, catalysts, or solvents, such as steam or phenols.
At the very high temperature of 3,000 °C (3,270 K; 5,430 °F) more than half of the water molecules are decomposed. At ambient temperatures only one molecule in 100 trillion dissociates by the effect of heat. [15] The high temperature requirements and material constraints have limited the applications of the thermal decomposition approach.
The degradation rate of many organic compounds is limited by their bioavailability, which is the rate at which a substance is absorbed into a system or made available at the site of physiological activity, [11] as compounds must be released into solution before organisms can degrade them. The rate of biodegradation can be measured in a number ...