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Chemical reactions occur so that atoms gain stability. For example, oxygen will react with carbon because the product, carbon dioxide, has more chemical stability - in other words, each atom shares its electrons to give the other atom(s) in the molecule an electron arrangement of more stability that the one before.

Chemical reactions also occur in one of two circumstances:

a) the reaction is following a fundamental law of nature (enthalpy-its the nature of things to want to use the smallest amount of energy possible, so when a reaction can occur that produces more energy, it will. Also, entropy-its the nature of things to be as disorganized as possible, such as the breaking down or decomposing of material)

b) something forces the reaction (this one is self-explanitory)

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14y ago

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