Thermal decomposition

Thermal decomposition, also called thermolysis (roughly "to break with heat"), is a process where heat causes a chemical compound to break down into simpler chemical compounds or elements.[1]

Types

If the compound is exposed to oxygen, usually from the air, the reaction is called calcination.[2] If an inert gas is used instead of air, it is pyrolysis.[3]

Cracking is the thermolysis of large molecules like hydrocarbons, with or without a catalyst.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Kerry K. Karukstis; Gerald R. Van Hecke, Chemistry Connections: The Chemical Basis of Everyday Phenomena (Boston: Academic Press, 2003), p. 63
  2. ↑ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. (the "Gold Book") (2025). Online version: (2006–) "Calcination". doi:10.1351/goldbook.C00773
  3. ↑ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. (the "Gold Book") (2025). Online version: (2006–) "Pyrolysis". doi:10.1351/goldbook.P04961
  4. ↑ IUPAC, Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. (the "Gold Book") (2025). Online version: (2006–) "Cracking". doi:10.1351/goldbook.C01387
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