[RaRaRaRa_Radebe]

What is the balanced chemical reaction that occurs when Calcium Bicarbonate, Ca(HCO3)2 is mixed with distilled water. I am completely stumped as I do not even know what products are produced. Thanks in advance!

[Arkcon]

Well, lets at least start it.  Write down the word for the reactants as chemical formulas instead.  Maybe the textbook or class notes will tell you what will happen.  Or if not, maybe you can make a guess as to what happens.  They said, right in the question, there is a reaction.

[RaRaRaRa_Radebe]

Thanks for the reply.
I would have thought that the  Ca(HCO3)2 simply dissolves to forum ions of Ca(2+) and (HCO3){1-}, giving the following balanced reaction: Ca(HCO3)2  Ca(2+) + 2(HCO3){1-}

However, according to Wikipedia, calcium bicarbonate "exists only in aqueous solution containing the calcium (Ca2+), bicarbonate (HCO3–), and carbonate (CO32–) ions, together with dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2)". Does this mean that all of these products form and must the water be considered as a reactant when balancing the reaction?

[Arkcon]

That's where I was going with it, yeah.  Your question just has the barest of hints - "the reaction of calcium bicarbonate in water."  But if you've gone to Wikipedia, you know that calcium bicarbonate isn't stable in water, so you now know what reaction to write.  Sodium bicarbonate is, and so is sodium chloride for example, so if someone wrote, "Write the reaction for sodium chloride in water" it'd be even more confusing.  Yet, the ionization could be considered a reaction.  Really depends on what the instructor wants, based on what you've learned recently.