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Chemistry LibreTexts

15: Thermodynamics- Atoms, Molecules and Energy

  • Page ID
    49521
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    In the sections on Using Chemical Equations in Calculations we indicate that heat is a form of energy and show how the quantity of heat energy absorbed or released by a chemical change can be related to the corresponding chemical equation. We also state the law of conservation of energy, and arguments in other sections have often been based on the idea that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. The law of conservation of energy is the first of three important laws involving energy and matter, which were discovered over a century ago. These laws were originally based on the movement or transfer (dynamics) of heat (thermo), and the law of conservation of energy is therefore referred to as the first law of thermodynamics.


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