Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An example of a spontaneous (without addition of an external energy source) decomposition is that of hydrogen peroxide which slowly decomposes into water and oxygen (see video at right): 2 H 2 O 2 → 2 H 2 O + O 2. This reaction is one of the exceptions to the endothermic nature of decomposition reactions.
The granularity of the sugar can greatly affect the reaction: powdered sugar reacts very quickly but sugar cubes take longer to react. [ 2 ] When sucrose is dehydrated, heat is given out to the surroundings in an exothermic reaction , while graphite and liquid water are produced by the decomposition of the sugar: [ 3 ]
The decomposition of food, either plant or animal, called spoilage in this context, is an important field of study within food science. Food decomposition can be slowed down by conservation. The spoilage of meat occurs, if the meat is untreated, in a matter of hours or days and results in the meat becoming unappetizing, poisonous or infectious.
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 ]
An example of a simple chain reaction is the thermal decomposition of acetaldehyde (CH 3 CHO) to methane (CH 4) and carbon monoxide (CO). The experimental reaction order is 3/2, [4] which can be explained by a Rice-Herzfeld mechanism. [5] This reaction mechanism for acetaldehyde has 4 steps with rate equations for each step :
The chemical reaction is as follows: CaCO 3 → CaO + CO 2 The reaction is used to make quick lime, which is an industrially important product. Another example of thermal decomposition is 2Pb(NO 3) 2 → 2PbO + O 2 + 4NO 2. Some oxides, especially of weakly electropositive metals decompose when heated to high enough temperature.
For example, in the carbon cycle, atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants through photosynthesis, which converts it into organic compounds that are used by organisms for energy and growth. Carbon is then released back into the atmosphere through respiration and decomposition.
In chemistry, photocatalysis is the acceleration of a photoreaction in the presence of a photocatalyst, the excited state of which "repeatedly interacts with the reaction partners forming reaction intermediates and regenerates itself after each cycle of such interactions."