Decomposition

Chemical decomposition is the seperation of a chemical compound into elements or smaller compounds. It can be defined as the opposite of a chemical synthesis, though it would be wrong to say that decomposition is the direct opposite of chemical synthesis. Chemical decomposition is often an undesired chemical reaction, though not always. The stability that a chemical compound ordinarily has is eventually limited when exposed to extreme environmental conditions like heat, radiation, humidity or the acidity of a solvent. The details of decomposition processes are generally not well defined, as a molecule may break up into a host of smaller fragments. There are 2 types of decomposition reactions, thermolysis and electrolysis

Thermolysis, also known as thermal decomposition, is defined as a chemical reaction in which a chemical substance breaks up into at least two chemical substances when heated. The reaction is usually endothermic as heat is required to break chemical bonds in the compound undergoing decomposition. The decomposition temperature of a substance is the temperature at which the substance decomposes into smaller substances or into its constituent atoms. The following video will show the effects of thermal decompositon.

Electrolysis is the passage of an electric current through an ionic substance that is either molten or dissolved in a suitable solvent, resulting in chemical reactions at the electrodes and separation of materials.The key process of electrolysis is the interchange of atoms and ions by the removal or addition of electrons from the external circuit. The required products of electrolysis are in some different physical state from the electrolyte and can be removed by physical process. The following video shows elctrolysis of water.

Electrolysis - Break Water Into Hydrogen And Oxygen - For more of the funniest videos, click here

Having understand decomposition, i will be moving on to single displacement.