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2.6 Bond Enthalpies

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    32252
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    There is another way to calculate the heat of reaction, using bond enthalpies.

    Bond enthalpy refers to the amount of energy stored in the chemical bonds between any two atoms in a molecule. Bond enthalpies have been experimentally determined and can be found in a Table of Bond Enthalpies.

    Important
    Data Table

    Bond Enthalpies

    Pick a format:

    Word | RTF | PDF

    The net change in energy during a chemical reaction is the difference between how much energy it takes to break chemical bonds and how much energy is released when bonds form. So if we know how much energy is stored in these chemical bonds, we can calculate the change in energy for a reaction. The energy change will equal:

    Amount of energy required to break the bonds of the reactant molecules
    Amount of energy released when the bonds of the products form

    If we know how much energy is stored in the chemical bonds, we can calculate the energy change of a reaction. It is important to realize that bonds are broken on the reactant side of the equation, and bonds are formed on the product side. This will give us an equation to use that is very similar to our Hess's Law formula, but with one important different - when using Hess's Law, we subtract the reactants from the products. But when using bond enthalpies, we will subtract the products from the reactants. Be careful to remember these differences.

    To solve bond enthalpy questions, you'll need to be able to draw the structural formulas of models, something you likely learned in Chemistry 20. You'll need to know which atoms are bonded together, and if single, double, or triple bonds are involved. We'll keep our molecules pretty simple here.

    Let's look at a few examples.

    Example 1. Using bond enthalpies, provided in the table below, calculate the heat of reaction, ΔH, for:
    ½ H2(g) + ½ Cl2(g) → HCl(g)

    Given the following bond enthalpies:

    H — H 436 kJ
    Cl — Cl 243 kJ
    H — Cl 433 kJ

    (you can find a more complete list of bond enthalpies in the bond enthalpies table)

    Solution:

    Draw structural formulas for all molecules. Pretty simple for these molecules:

    Chemical formula
    Structural Formula

    H2
    H — H
    Cl2
    Cl — Cl
    HCl
    H — Cl

    Using the balancing coefficients in the balanced equation and the structural formulas, determine how much energy is required to break all of the bonds of the reactants, and how much energy is released when all of the product bonds form:

    REACTANTS: BOND BREAKING

    PRODUCTS: BOND FORMATION

    Bond

    No.
    bonds
    per
    molecule


    Bond
    Enthalpy

    Total
    Energy

    No.
    bonds
    per
    molecule

    Bond
    Enthalpy

    Total
    Energy



    H - H

    1

    ×

    436

    =

    436

    Cl - Cl

    1

    ×

    243

    =

    243

    H-Cl

    1

    ×

    433

    =

    433

    We still need to use the balancing coefficients from the balanced equation:

    For example, 1 mole of H - H bonds requires 436 kJ but in our balanced equation only ½ mole of H - H bonds is involved, which will require only 218 kJ (436 × 0.5):
    ΔH = Σ (bonds broken) Σ (bonds formed)
    ΔH = [½(436) + ½(243)] [(433)]
    ΔH = 339.5 433 = -93.5 kJ answer
    Example 2: Using the bond enthalpies provided, calculate the heat of reaction, ΔH, for:

    C2H4(g) + H2(g) → C2H6(g)

    Given the following table of bond enthalpies:

    C — H 413 kJ
    C = C 614 kJ
    C —C 348 kJ
    H — H 436 kJ

    Solution: Begin by drawing the structural formulas for all molecules.

    Chemical formula
    Structural Formula

    C2H4
    molecule - C2H4
    C2H6
    molecule - C2H6
    H2
    H — H

    Determine how many bonds of each type are present in each molecule, and calculate the bond energies. For example, in C2H4 there is a single C=C bond (a double bond) but there are four C - H bonds.

    REACTANTS: BOND BREAKING
    PRODUCTS: BOND FORMATION
    Bond
    bond
    enthalpy
    Number
    bonds
    per
    molecule

    Total
    Energy
    bond
    enthalpy
    Number
    bonds
    per
    molecule
    Energy


    C - H
    413
    ×
    4
    =
    1652
    413
    ×
    6
    2478
    C = C
    614
    ×
    1
    =
    614
    H - H
    436
    ×
    1
    =
    436
    C - C

    348
    ×
    1
    =
    348

    Finally calculate ΔH for the reaction, being sure to check for coefficients from the balanced equation:

    C2H4(g) + H2(g) → C2H6(g)

    ΔH = Σ(reactant bonds) Σ(product bonds)


    ΔH = (1652 + 614 + 436) (2478 + 347)

    ΔH = 2702 2826 = -124 kJ answer

    2.6 Bond Enthalpies is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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