In this track: From send to settlement
Follow a transaction
From pressing send to becoming part of the shared history.
Sending a transaction is like handing in a signed instruction. The network checks it before adding it to the notebook.
Maya prepares an instruction: send 0.01 pretend ETH to Leo.
A local simulation. Nothing is signed or sent to a network.
1. Write the instruction
A wallet prepares the destination, amount and fee settings. A transaction may also contain calldata to tell a smart contract which action to perform. The account’s nonce orders its transactions and prevents the same signed transaction from being used twice on the same chain.
2. Sign and share
The account signs the transaction. A node receives it, checks it and may share it with peers. Pending transactions often wait in a mempool, a local collection of candidates. There is no single worldwide queue, and sending an instruction does not promise inclusion.
3. Include and execute
A block proposer can include the transaction. Nodes execute its effects and verify the block. A successful transfer updates balances; a contract call can update storage and emit events. Execution can also revert, undoing its state changes while still consuming gas.
4. Wait for finality
Inclusion and finality are different. Recent blocks can be reorganized. Proof of stake adds agreement that eventually finalizes checkpoints under normal conditions. In the simulator, each click is a teaching step, not a promise about real block timing.
If a contract call reverts, is the gas always refunded?
Reverting undoes execution’s state changes, but does not undo the work already performed.
Original explanations by EtherTools. Examples are educational and source-linked; this site is independent of the Ethereum Foundation. Our approach.