Single+Displacement+P+Grady


 * Definition:** A reaction in which a free atom becomes an ion and an ion becomes a free element, which is also known as a replacement reaction.


 * Generic Formula: A + BC > AC + B**

An example of a sentence is Magnesium and Nitric acid React to form Magnesium Nitrate and Hydrogen. To turn this into an equation you must find the symbols of each element. The symbols in this are **Mg, H,and (NO3)**. The left side of the arrow will look like **Mg + H(NO3)>**. The right side will look like **Mg(NO3) + H2. H** is diatomic so it is written as **H2**. The entire equation looks like **Mg + H(NO3) -> Mg(NO3) + H2.** This is not yet balanced so to balance this you must at a **2** in front of the **H(NO3)** on the right side. The Final balanced equation will look like **Mg +2H(NO3) ---> Mg(NO3) + H2.**

To determine which element will switch you can look at a table such as this one. This shows how reactive each element is. The most reactive elements want to be part of the compound in an equation. So if there was an equation including Lithium and Potassium then lithium would want to for a compound with another element because it is higher on the list so it is more reactive.