Learn what a reactant is in chemistry. Get the definition and examples and learn how reactants differ from reagents.
Reactants are the starting materials in a chemical reaction. Reactants undergo a chemical change in which chemical bonds are broken and new ones formed to make products. In a chemical equation, reactants are listed on the left side of the arrow, while products are on the right side.
What are the basics of chemical reactions? A chemical reaction is a process in which one or more substances, also called reactants, are converted to one or more different substances, known as products. Substances are either chemical elements or compounds.
Reactants are consumed when a chemical reaction takes place, and a reagent does not have to be consumed. An example of a reagent is a catalyst, which is a material that helps to speed up the reaction, but is unchanged throughout the process.
Reactants are starting materials and are written on the left-hand side of the equation. Products are the end-result of the reaction and are written on the right-hand side of the equation.
At the core of any chemical reaction lies the transformation of one or more substances, the reactants, into different substances, the products. Reactants are the initial chemical species that participate in the reaction, undergoing bond breaking and bond formation to yield new chemical entities.
Reactants interact with each other during the reaction to form new substances, called products. The term "reactant" is universally applicable across all subfields of chemistry, including organic chemistry, physical chemistry, biochemistry, and inorganic chemistry.
In this lesson about reactants, learn what is a reactant and find various reactant examples. See how reactants are represented using chemical equations.