Decomposition+C.+Fuller

Decomposition is the reverse of synthesis, in which a greater substance or compound breaks down into two or more simpler substances. Decomposition may be shown generically as XY --> X + Y, with XY being the greater substance or compound and X and Y being the simpler substances.

A real life example of decomposition would be the following statement: Magnesium oxide breaks down into magnesium and oxygen. The conversion of this statement into a decomposition would be to replace the statement with the given elemental symbols, so in this case it would be: MgO --> Mg + O2. Then, we must balance this equation or else it will not be stable. To do so, we must place the opposite of a given number to counter and positivity or negativity. So in this case, we would place a two in front of MgO, which would create two oxygens and two magnesiums on the left. We must then balance the right magnesium by adding a two as well. The result is as follows: 2MgO --> 2Mg + O2.



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