Question

Give the four symbols for physical states of reactants and products, and tell what each means.

Answer 1

We are going to use table salt, NaCl as an example.

(s) = solid, eg the salt you put on your food is a crystalline solid. 
(l)  = liquid, if you melt salt it take on a liquid form
(g)  = gaseous, if you put enough energy in the salt will turn into a gas.
(aq) = aqueous, meaning in water or another solvent. If you put some table salt in water and stir it, it will dissolve, the NaCl molecules dont get destroyed but they dissolve becoming part of the liquid.