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Reference.org
Chemical equation
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<p>A chemical equation is the symbolic representation of a <a href="/facts/Chemical_reaction/GpqWlKrz">chemical reaction</a> in the form of symbols and <a href="/facts/Chemical_formula/hghUtthl">chemical formulas</a>. The <a href="/facts/Reactant/c3GLInCu">reactant</a> entities are given on the left-hand side and the <a href="/facts/Product_(chemistry)/8uCoDUdv">product</a> entities are on the right-hand side with a plus sign between the entities in both the reactants and the products, and an arrow that points towards the products to show the direction of the reaction. The chemical formulas may be symbolic, <a href="/facts/Structural_formula/XRTmvINB">structural</a> (pictorial diagrams), or intermixed. The coefficients next to the symbols and formulas of entities are the absolute values of the stoichiometric numbers. The first chemical equation was diagrammed by <a href="/facts/Jean_Beguin/RXgNHpVz">Jean Beguin</a> in 1615. </p>