STOICHIOMETRY AND CHEMICAL REACTIONS

Stoichiometry is the branch of chemistry that deals with the quantitative relationships between the amounts of reactants and products in a chemical reaction. It is based on the Law of Conservation of Mass, which states that matter is neither created nor destroyed during a chemical reaction. Using stoichiometry, chemists can calculate how much of each substance is needed or produced in a reaction using balanced chemical equations.

Chemical Reactions are processes in which one or more substances (reactants) are transformed into new substances (products) with different properties. During a chemical reaction, atoms are rearranged, but no atoms are lost or gained. Examples include combustion, neutralization, precipitation, oxidation-reduction, and decomposition reactions.

In essence, stoichiometry provides the mathematical foundation for understanding and predicting the outcomes of chemical reactions.