A chemical change in a certain direction is accomplished not only by reason of the difference of masses, the composition of the substances concerned, the distribution of their parts, and their affinity or chemical energy, but also by reason of the conditions under which the substances occur.
In order that a certain chemical reaction may take place between substances which are capable of reacting on each other, it is often necessary to have recourse to conditions which are sometimes very different from those in which the substances usually occur in nature.
For example, not only is the presence of air (oxygen) necessary for the combustion of charcoal, but the latter must also be heated to redness. The red-hot portion of the charcoal burns—i.e. combines with the oxygen of the atmosphere—and in so doing evolves heat, which raises the temperature of the adjacent parts of charcoal, so that they burn.
Just as the combustion of charcoal is dependent on its being heated to redness, so also every chemical reaction only takes place under certain physical, mechanical, or other conditions. The following are the chief conditions which exert an influence on the progress of chemical reactions.
(a) Temperature.—Chemical reactions of combination only take place within certain definite limits of temperature, and cannot be accomplished outside these limits. We may cite as examples not only that the combustion of charcoal begins at a red heat, but also that chlorine and salt only combine with water at a temperature below 0°.
These compounds cannot be formed at a higher temperature, for they are then wholly or partially broken up into their component parts. A certain rise in temperature is necessary to start combustion. In certain cases the effect of this rise may be explained as causing one of the reacting bodies to change from a solid into a liquid or gaseous form.
The transference into a fluid form facilitates the progress of the reaction, because it aids the intimate contact of the particles reacting on each other. Another reason, and to this must be ascribed the chief influence of heat in exciting chemical action, is that the physical cohesion, or the internal chemical union, of homogeneous particles is thereby weakened, and in this way the separation of the particles of the original substances, and their transference into new compounds, is rendered easier.
When a reaction absorbs heat—as in decomposition—the reason why heat is necessary is self-evident.
At the present day it may be asserted upon the basis of existing data, respecting the action of high temperature, that all compound bodies are decomposed at a more or less high temperature.
We have already seen examples of this in describing the decomposition of mercury oxide into mercury and oxygen, and the decomposition of wood under the influence of heat.
Many substances are decomposed at a very moderate temperature; for instance, the fulminating salt which is employed in cartridges is decomposed at a little above 120°.
The majority of those compounds which make up the mass of animal and vegetable tissues are decomposed at 200°.