Homework of Thermochemical properties of fuels

We need to understand the molecular origins of the energy content of biological fuels,
carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
Photosynthesis and the oxidation of organic molecules are the most important processes that
supply energy to organisms. They begin the quantitative study of biological energy conversion by
assessing the thermochemical properties of fuels.

Questions:
1. Define: The standard enthalpy of combustion and write some examples of enthalpy of
combustion.
2. What is the combustion of methane in a natural gas flame? Write an example.
3. Put a table for some examples of enthalpy of combustion.
The combination of reaction enthalpies
To make progress in our study of bioenergetics, we need to develop methods for predicting the
reaction enthalpies of complex biochemical reactions.
Defined: Hess’s law.
1. Example using Hess’s law. In biological cells that have a plentiful supply of O2, glucose is
oxidized completely to CO2 and H2O. Muscle cells may be deprived of O2 during vigorous
exercise and, in that case, one molecule of glucose is converted to two molecules of lactic
acid by the process of glycolysis. Given the thermochemical equations for the combustions
of glucose and lactic acid:

calculate the standard enthalpy for glycolysis:

Is there a biological advantage of complete oxidation of glucose compared with glycolysis?

Explain your answer. Read the book.
2. Example: calculate the standard enthalpy of the fermentation C6H12O6(s) → 2 C2H5OH(l) +
2 CO2(g) from the standard enthalpies of combustion of glucose and ethanol.

Standard enthalpies of formation

We need to simplify even further the process of predicting reaction enthalpies of biochemical
reactions.
Question:

What is standard reaction enthalpy? Describe and explain. Some examples.

What is standard enthalpy of formation? Describe and explain. Some examples.
Calculate example:
Using standard enthalpies of formation. Glucose and fructose are simple carbohydrates with the
molecular formula C6H12O6. Sucrose, or table sugar, is a complex carbohydrate with molecular
formula C12H22O11 that consists of a glucose unit covalently linked to a fructose unit (a water
molecule is released as a result of the reaction between glucose and fructose to form sucrose).
Estimate the standard enthalpy of combustion of sucrose from the standard enthalpies of formation
of the reactants and products.