Question

What do the arrows and coefficients used by chemists in equations communicate?

Answer 1

Answer:

In a chemical reaction, arrows separate reactants from products and points to where the reaction is going. On the other hand, the coefficients detail the amount of the components of the chemical reaction.

Explanation:

The way to represent a chemical reaction is through the chemical equation. To write this chemical equation, the following rules must be followed: The reactants are written on the left, and the products on the right, both, separated by an arrow that indicates the direction of the reaction.

The chemical equation must be balanced, leaving the same number of atoms of each of the elements. To balance a chemical reaction, numbers known as coefficients are placed in front of it, showing the relative number of atoms entering a reaction.

Answer 2

The arrows used by chemists means "react to produce" or "yield", such that when two substances react with each other they yield products, represented or shown by an arrow. The coefficients on the other hand, describe the lowest whole number ratio of the amounts of all of the reactants and products.