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Chemical reactions happen all around us. Cooking and baking involves mixing ingredients and applying heat so chemical reactions can occur to create the flavors and aromas that you want. Plants take energy from the sun, causing a chemical reaction with carbon dioxide and water to produce sugar and oxygen. In fact, our bodies are an amazing chemical reaction factory. Digestion of food is a chemical reaction that extracts essential fuels and nutrients. The oxygen we breathe that is produced by plants, reacts with sugars from the food we eat to produce water, carbon dioxide and energy. Water and energy are used to drive body processes, but excess carbon dioxide and water are exhaled out. Chemical attractions among blood cells, oxygen, carbon dioxide, tissues, and other body components make the chemical changes that keep us alive possible.
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There are certain bits of evidence like color changes, the formation of a gas or solid, and changes in temperature that indicate a chemical change may have occurred. But seeing that evidence doesn’t actually tell you what is happening. We know new substances form during a chemical reaction but, where does it come from and how is energy involved? To truly understand chemical reactions, we need to look at them from the perspective of the atoms and compounds that are involved in the process. Knowing how different atoms and compounds behave enables us to see patterns in chemical reactions. Seeing patterns, classifying reactions, and relating them to energy are fundamental parts of understanding chemistry.
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