What happens to the element in a chemical reaction?

In a chemical reaction, substances (elements and/or compounds) called reactants are changed into other substances (compounds and/or elements) called products. You can’t change one element into another in a chemical reaction — that happens in nuclear reactions. Instead, you create a new substance with chemical reactions.

Explanation:

nacl or sodium chloride is an ionic compound. this is because an ionic compound pertains to a compound that consists of positively and negatively charged ions. in this case, na (sodium) has a tendency to lose one electron when it reacts with with other atoms, so the resulting sodium ion contains 11 protons and 10 electrons, thus making it positively charged (na+), when chlorine reacts, it usually gains one electron to form an ion called chloride, thus making it negatively charged ( since the ions are oppositely charged, they attract.