![]() ![]() This functionality may lead to seemingly incorrect search results if you specifically want ions.įor example, searching for hydrogen -> hydronium will not find any chemical reactions, even though H +(hydrogen) + H 2O (water) -> H 3O + (hydronium) is a reaction in our database. Inside of chemical reactions, Wolfram|Alpha will by default assume the most common form found in nature (in this case, H 2), though you can always correct this interpretation using the “Assuming” section at the top of the result. ![]() For example, “hydrogen” may refer to the chemical compound H 2, the element H, or the ion H +. Knowing some basic chemistry never hurts!)Ī word of warning: If you type chemical reactions using chemical names (hydrogen + oxygen ->) rather than chemical formulas (H 2 + O 2 ->), there is some ambiguity. (Alternatively, you could have queried oxidation of iron and gotten the same result. Querying iron -> rust will lead you to your desired reaction while teaching you that rust is iron oxide. ![]() For example, suppose you know that iron turns to rust, but not how this happens, or for that matter what the chemical formula for rust is. However, the power of our new interface comes from being able to search for a reaction without knowing the exact reactants and products. If you know that the combustion of ethanol must be of the form C 2H 5OH + O 2 -> H 2O+ CO 2, you can type this in directly and get the reaction’s page. Let’s return to the combustion of ethanol example. ![]() If you type in an unbalanceable reaction by either specifying only reactants (“ reactant 1 + reactant 2 + … ->”), specifying only products (“-> product 1 + product 2 + …”), or specifying both reactants and products that are unbalanceable, you are searching Wolfram|Alpha’s database for all reactions that contain reactant 1, reactant 2… as reactants and product 1, product 2… as products. If you query a balanceable chemical reaction (using the form “ reactant 1 + reactant 2 + … -> product 1 + product 2 + …”), you will obtain the reaction’s page that shows you its balanced equation, chemical structures, chemical names, thermodynamics, equilibrium constant, and chemical properties. But here’s a secret: We allow you to write the formula of any molecule with no restriction, so you can go wild with your queries. Note that Wolfram|Alpha will balance both the atoms and the charge on both sides of a reaction-so telling us that H + -> H 2 is not being balanced does not count (since it actually cannot be balanced). The Step-by-step button teaches Wolfram|Alpha Pro users how to balance any chemical reaction, no matter how complicated (if you want a challenge, try balancing CaSO 4 + CH4 + CO 2 -> CaCO 3 + S + H 2O without peeking). Clicking the “Sample reactions” box takes you to a page where you can view the reagents through their formulas, structure diagrams, or chemical names, along with the reaction thermodynamics (from which you can calculate the energy released by the ethanol fireball). In this case, there is only one reaction, and it is indeed the one we’re looking for. (In the chemical reaction hydrogen + oxygen -> water, the reactants are hydrogen and oxygen, while the product is water.) Now let’s do some chemistry! Our revised chemical reaction interface can answer these questions and many more. When you query combustion of ethanol, Wolfram|Alpha’s database of combustion reactions is searched with ethanol as a reactant. While this is certainly an exciting application of chemistry, it brings up several important questions: What does it mean to combust ethanol? What exactly is ethanol? And how much energy was actually released in that fireball? Wolfram|Alpha to the rescue. To demonstrate how Wolfram|Alpha may benefit you, imagine a chemistry lab where the experiment is to combust ethanol, creating a spectacular fireball. And we also introduced new Step-by-step functionality to illustrate how to balance chemical reactions. We recently rolled out a brand new interface that allows you to easily search through our large database of reactions and explore classes of chemical reactions (such as combustion or oxidation reactions). Wolfram|Alpha is a great resource for learning about chemical reactions. ![]()
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