noun
Etymology
Origin of reactant
Explanation
A reactant is a substance that changes in a chemical reaction. Vinegar and baking soda are reactants — when you mix them together, they bubble up and make really good lava for a model volcano. Reactants usually hang around the chemistry lab, but the concept isn't difficult if you think about the word react. When people react, they do something such as laugh at a joke or cry at sad news. In chemistry, reactants are part of something happening too: if two chemicals bond when mixed together, or if one dissolves, they are reactants. Any kind of chemical reaction involves reactants.
Vocabulary lists containing reactant
Chemistry - Introductory
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Chemical Reactions - Introductory
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Chemistry - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"We were able to vary the behavior and effective size of the ultrasmall pores by changing the composition and pH of the reactant solutions," reports Tomoji Kawai, senior author.
From Science Daily • Feb. 19, 2026
At ORNL,Polo-Garzon and Zhang used a technique called steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis to measure catalyst efficiency -- the number of times a single active site converts a reactant into a product.
From Science Daily • Nov. 26, 2024
"If you want to etch silicon while leaving a smooth surface, you should use another reactant than fluorine. It should be a reactant that etches uniformly all crystalline planes," Barsukov said.
From Science Daily • Jan. 9, 2024
These reactant collisions must be of proper orientation and sufficient energy in order to result in product formation.
From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019
If you return here with less than a quarter supply of reactant fuel, you will be disqualified.
From Treachery in Outer Space by Glanzman, Louis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
