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2.S: Energy and Chemical Processes (Summary)

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    288667
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    To ensure that you understand the material in this chapter, you should review the meanings of the following bold terms in the following summary and ask yourself how they relate to the topics in the chapter.

    Energy is the ability to do work. The transfer of energy from one place to another is heat. Heat and energy are measured in units of joules, calories, or kilocalories (equal to 1,000 calories).

     Reactions that give off energy are called exothermic, while reactions that absorb energy are called endothermic. Energy-level diagrams can be used to illustrate the energy changes that accompany chemical reactions.

    Even complex biochemical reactions have to follow the rules of simple chemistry, including rules involving energy change. Reactions of carbohydrates and proteins provide our bodies with about 4 kcal of energy per gram, while fats provide about 9 kcal per gram.


    2.S: Energy and Chemical Processes (Summary) is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.