Examples of chemical reactions that occur in daily life

The phrase “chemistry is everywhere” is a bit hackneyed, but that doesn’t mean it’s completely true. Everything around us is made up of chemical substances, and these constantly react with each other giving different types of products.

The mere fact of being alive already implies thousands and thousands of chemical reactions that never stop. Some of these reactions occur spontaneously like this, while, in other cases, we are the ones who carry them out.

Many chemical reactions attract attention, while in other cases, we don’t even realize they are happening. Without further ado, here is a list of 10 examples of chemical reactions in everyday life.

1. Rust and corrosion

Everyone at some point has seen an iron nail rust and cover itself with a layer of orange oxide. We have also seen the way silver garments dull over time, bronze pieces that lose their luster, covering themselves with a patina of dark brown, green or blue, and finally, most of us when hearing the name of the statue of Liberty, the emblem of the city of New York, we remember the shape of a giant sculpture of green color, despite the fact that the statue is made of copper.

All of these easily noticeable changes are due to oxidation reactions, and they occur day and night on the surface of most metals that are exposed to oxygen in the air.

In the case of iron nails, the reaction is as follows:

Silver is oxidized to silver oxide by the following reaction:

Bronze , which is an alloy of copper with tin, oxidizes, forming a patina that can have different compositions depending on environmental conditions, but in all cases, the formation of the patina begins with the oxidation reaction of copper by oxygen from air.

2. Electrochemical reactions

Everyone who has ever used a battery to power an electronic device like a cell phone, radio, or remote-controlled car (that is, virtually everyone) has reaped the benefits of electrochemical reactions. Regardless of the type of battery in question, they all work by storing electrical energy in the form of chemical energy , which is released again through the reverse reaction when we turn on the devices.

Lithium- ion batteries , for example, are based on the following reaction:

where M is a transition metal.

3. Acid-base reactions

Acids and bases are ubiquitous in daily life. Soaps and many detergents, as well as sodium carbonate and bicarbonate of soda are basic substances. On the other hand, acids abound in the home. Vinegar, citric acid in citrus fruits, and battery acid are just a few examples of common acids. And when one mixes with the other, an acid-base reaction always occurs.

A visible example occurs when we mix carbonate or bicarbonate with vinegar, since the acid-base reaction that occurs generates gaseous carbon dioxide in the form of bubbles that are easy to observe. The reaction in each case is:

4. Combustion reactions

Combustion is perhaps the easiest chemical reaction to identify in our daily lives. This is because it happens every time we light a gas stove, a fireplace, or a match (or match). In addition, it also occurs when the engine of a gasoline car is started.

In the case of cooking gas, in most cases it is butane that burns in the presence of oxygen from the air according to the following reaction:

In the case of internal combustion engines that work with gasoline, the main components consist of different octane isomers (C ₈ H ₁₈ ), so the combustion reaction is:

5. Photosynthesis

Since we were little we have been taught that trees and other plants are the lungs of the planet, since they are in charge of producing the oxygen we breathe. They do this through a set of various chemical reactions in different parts of the cell, but the overall reaction is to transform carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen, using sunlight as an energy source:

6. Aerobic cellular respiration

In almost every possible way, cellular respiration is the reverse reaction of photosynthesis. It consists of the set of chemical reactions that occur in our cells and in the cells of all living beings that breathe oxygen, to transform the energy stored in food, specifically glucose (a sugar), into energy that the cell can use. to live, grow and divide. The overall reaction is:

7. Cooking food

In the kitchen, chemical reactions are not limited to the combustion of the gas with which we heat our food. In fact, all the changes that happen to food as we cook it are chemical reactions, most of them very complex.

For example, when we grill a steak until it caramelizes its surface, that divine smell, flavor and color is produced through a series of complex reactions between the proteins and sugars in the meat called Maillard reactions.

8. Polymerization reactions

Polymerization reactions consist of linking one after another small molecules called monomers to obtain a much larger macromolecule. These reactions occur very frequently in daily life.

• They occur in the caramelization of sugar

• They occur when we mix two-component glues like epoxy glues.

9. Saponification

Saponification is the process by which fatty acids and triglycerides are transformed into soaps by reacting with a strong base. Many may think that this kind of reaction is limited to soap factories, but it turns out that it is more common in daily life than one might think. Most strong chemical oven (kitchen) cleaners actually consist of a strong base such as sodium or potassium hydroxide either solid, in solution, or in the form of a gel.

By adding this strong base to the greases stuck and burned on the surface of the oven, the saponification reaction occurs, which transforms them into soaps that easily disperse in water after a few minutes.

The reaction involved in the case of fats is:

10. Precipitation reactions

Precipitation reactions consist of the formation of a solid from a supersaturated solution. These kinds of reactions are very common in daily life. For example, where hard water (water containing a relatively high concentration of calcium and magnesium ions) is present, calcium and magnesium ions tend to precipitate as insoluble carbonates in metal hot water pipes.

The reaction is:

References

Chang, R., & Goldsby, K. (2013). Chemistry (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Interamericana de España SL

Noguera, IB (2021, November 24). What is saponification? Chemical Engineering Reviews. https://www.ingenieriaquimicareviews.com/2020/07/saponificacion.html

polymerization . (2013, July 28). Plastics Technology. https://tecnologiadelosplasticos.blogspot.com/2013/07/polimerizacion.html

Light reactions of photosynthesis . (2021, May 24). Flexbooks. https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-conceptos-de-ciencias-de-la-vida-grados-6-8-en-espanol/section/2.12/primary/lesson/reacciones-lum% C3%ADunicas-de-la-fotos%C3%ADntesis/

Rossana, A. (2021, August 8). combustion . Concept of – Definition of. https://conceptodefinicion.de/combustion/