Question

What are the various ways in which a chemical equation can be made more informative? Give examples to illustrate your answer.

Answer 1

Chemical equations are symbolic representations of chemical reactions in which the reactants and products are expressed in the form of chemical formulae. Symbols are also employed to indicate the direction of the reaction as well as the actual states of the responding entities. In the year 1615, the French chemist Jean Beguin was the first to formulate chemical equations.

Complete answer:
The following are some examples of how a chemical equation can be improved to be more informative:
A. The physical states of the reactants and products can be indicated as follows: Gaseous state is indicated by the symbol ($g$), aqueous state is written as ($aq$) and solid state is indicated as ($s$).
$Zn(s) + {H_2}S{O_4}(aq) \to ZnS{O_4}(aq) + {H_2}(g) + Heat$
B. We can indicate the heat changes taking place in the reaction. For example, an exothermic reaction is indicated by writing "$+$ Heat" or "$+$ Heat energy" or "$+$ Energy" on the product's side of an equation. For an endothermic reaction, it can be indicated as "$+$ Heat" or "$+$ Heat energy" or "$+$ Energy" on the reactant side of an equation.
$C(s) + {O_2}(g) \to C{O_2}(g) + Heat$
C. We can indicate the "conditions" under which the reaction takes place.
Example: Delta represents the heat which is written over the arrow of the equation signifies that heat was provided to the reactants.
${N_2} + {O_2}\xrightarrow{\Delta }2NO$

Note:
A chemical equation is always balanced when the number of atoms of each element on the reactant and product sides are compared. It is based on the Law of Conservation of Mass, which states that the number of atoms on the left should be equal to the number on the right.