Meaning & use
double replacement
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountablechemistry
A reaction in which the positive and negative ions of two dissolved compounds swap partners, producing two new compounds.
Grammar: Can name the type of reaction or a particular one: a double replacement reaction; double replacement is common in solutions.
Patterns
- a double replacement reaction
- double replacement between X and Y
Mixing silver nitrate with sodium chloride is a classic double replacement that yields a white solid.
In a double replacement, the cation of one compound pairs with the anion of the other.
Students predict products of a double replacement by swapping the partners.
Common combinations
- double replacement reaction
- Our lab report covered a double replacement reaction that formed a precipitate.
- undergo double replacement
- The two salts undergo double replacement when their solutions are mixed.
- double replacement equation
- Write the balanced double replacement equation for the reaction.
- product of a double replacement
- The precipitate is the product of a double replacement.
Synonyms and how they differ
- double displacement
- Double displacement is another name used in many textbooks for the same reaction type, with no difference in meaning.
- metathesis
- Metathesis is the more formal term used by chemists and appears in advanced texts rather than introductory classes.
Word family
- replace verb
- to take the place of something
- replacement noun
- the act of replacing, or a thing that replaces
- single replacement noun
- a reaction where one element takes the place of another in a compound
Commonly confused: double replacement or single replacement?
double replacement vs single replacement
In a single replacement one element displaces another from a compound, while in a double replacement two compounds swap ions.
Practice
Which reaction is a double replacement?
Choose one answer.
Two compounds swap partners in the first reaction. The second is synthesis, the third is single replacement and the fourth is decomposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “double replacement”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.