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7: Thermochemistry

  • Page ID
    480998
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    Useful forms of energy are also available from a variety of chemical reactions other than combustion. For example, the energy produced by the batteries in a cell phone, car, or flashlight results from chemical reactions. This chapter introduces many of the basic ideas necessary to explore the relationships between chemical changes and energy, with a focus on thermal energy.

    • 7.1: Introduction
      Useful forms of energy are also available from a variety of chemical reactions other than combustion. For example, the energy produced by the batteries in a cell phone, car, or flashlight results from chemical reactions. This chapter introduces many of the basic ideas necessary to explore the relationships between chemical changes and energy, with a focus on thermal energy.
    • 7.2: Energy Basics
      Energy is the capacity to do work (applying a force to move matter). Heat is energy that is transferred between objects at different temperatures; it flows from a high to a low temperature. Chemical and physical processes can absorb heat (endothermic) or release heat (exothermic). The SI unit of energy, heat, and work is the joule (J). Specific heat and heat capacity are measures of the energy needed to change the temperature of a substance or object.
    • 7.3: Calorimetry
      Calorimetry is used to measure the amount of thermal energy transferred in a chemical or physical process. This requires careful measurement of the temperature change that occurs during the process and the masses of the system and surroundings. These measured quantities are then used to compute the amount of heat produced or consumed in the process using known mathematical relations. Calorimeters are designed to minimize energy exchange between the system and its surroundings.
    • 7.4: Enthalpy
      If a chemical change is carried out at constant pressure and the only work done is caused by expansion or contraction, q for the change is called the enthalpy change with the symbol ΔH. Examples of enthalpy changes include enthalpy of combustion, enthalpy of fusion, enthalpy of vaporization, and standard enthalpy of formation.   If the enthalpies of formation are available for the reactants and products of a reaction, the enthalpy change can be calculated using Hess’s law.
    • 7.5: Strengths of Ionic and Covalent Bonds
      This section discusses bond energetics of ionic and covalent bonds. The strength of a covalent bond is quantified by bond dissociation energy, more energetic and shorter bonds are stronger (triple > double > single). Ionic bond strength is quantified by lattice energy, which varies with ion size and charge, and the Born-Haber cycle approximates lattice energy using Hess's law. Reactions are exothermic when product bonds are more stable than reactant bonds.
    • 7.6: Key Terms
      These are key terms from the chapter. They are a good place to see your level of understanding, you should be able to understand each term, what it means, and how it is connected to the content covered.
    • 7.7: Key Equations
      These are key equations. You should know how and when to use them. To practice their applications, check out 7.9.
    • 7.8: Summary
      This section provides a brief summary of all the sections covered. It is important to understand that this should not be seen as a summary that will help you understand everything; it will only get you familiar with big concepts.
    • 7.9: Exercises
      These are homework exercises to accompany Chapter 7: Thermochemistry of the UTSC First-Year Textbook.


    This page titled 7: Thermochemistry is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Marco Zimmer-De Iuliis and Anna Galang.

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