I need help classifying these chemical changes!?

Question

I have to classify the following as synthesis, decomposition, or replacement. I'm confused and don't understand!

1.burning wood
2.burning gasoline
3.burning candle
4.burnt waffles
5.milk gone sour
6.wood rot
7.frying eggs
8.baby spit up
9.green penny
10.baking cookis
11.lighting a match
12.cooking a turkey
13.rusted nail
14.throw up
15.brown apple
16.glow stick
17.turning on the light
18.grilled steak
19.leaves changing color
20.spray 'n wash
21.baking a cake
22.making pancakes
23.taking a picture


I'm not asking for you to tell tell me what each one is, I'm just wondering if you could tell me in general what burning, baking, etc. are classified as. Thank you so much in advance!!

Answer 1

I don't understand either, and I'm a chemistry professor of 40 years experience. I think that a well-meaning textbook writer is trying to give simple examples but unfortunately the examples just aren't simple.

Nearly all these processes are much too complex to be fit into the straitjacket of these definitions.

Burning is reacting with oxygen, commonly giving carbon dioxide and water. Baking and cooking are highly complex groups of reactions, often involving denaturing proteins, which means a sort of jumbling up of structure.

I really hope that you will be able to discuss this with your teacher, and that this will not put you off a really fascinating subject.