6.

TOPIC: 6.9 HESS’S LAW

ENDURING UNDERSTANDING:
ENE-3 The energy exchanged in a chemical transformation is required to break and form bonds.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
ENE-3.C Represent a chemical or physical process as a sequence of steps.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:
ENE-3.C.1 Although the concept of “state function” is not required for the course, two principles of Hess’s law should be
understood. First, when a reaction is reversed, the enthalpy change stays constant in magnitude but becomes
reversed in mathematical sign. Second, when two (or more) reactions are added to obtain an overall reaction,
the individual enthalpy changes of each reaction are added to obtain the net enthalpy of the overall reaction.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE:
ENE-3.D Explain the relationship between the enthalpy of a chemical or physical process and the sum of the enthalpies
of the individual steps.
ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE:
ENE-3.D.1 When the products of a reaction are at a different temperature than their surroundings, they exchange energy
with the surroundings to reach thermal equilibrium. Thermal energy is transferred to the surroundings from
the products of an exothermic reaction. Thermal energy is transferred from the surroundings to the products
of an endothermic reaction.
EQUATION(S):
N/A

NOTES:
Germain Henri Hess, in 1840, discovered a very useful principle, which is named for him, Hess’s Law. Hess’s law
states that the enthalpy of a given chemical reaction is constant, regardless of the reaction happening in one step or
many steps.

In other words, if a chemical equation (the target) can be written as the sum of other chemical equations, the
enthalpy change of the target chemical equation will equal the sum of the enthalpy changes of the other chemical
equations.

Hess’s Law is based on the idea that enthalpy is a state function, state functions are beyond the scope of AP
chemistry, but the idea of a state function essentially means that the numerical value of a property doesn’t depend
on the path taken to find that value.

These are the key ideas for Hess’s Law.

• The reactions must add up to the target reaction
• If you reverse a reaction (switch the reactants and products) the sign for ΔH will also “flip” (- to + and vice
versa) but the magnitude stays the same.
• If you multiply to change coefficients to match the target reaction (you must do the same thing to the whole
reaction) you must do the same to the ΔH value.

I DO:
Given the following reactions:
2NO (g) + O2 (g) → 2NO2 (g) ΔH = -116 kJ
2N2 (g) + 5O2 (g) + 2H2O (l) → 4HNO3 (aq) ΔH = -256 kJ
N2 (g) + O2 (g) → 2NO (g) ΔH = +183 kJ
Calculate the enthalpy change for the reaction below:
3NO2 (g) + H2O (l) → 2HNO3 (aq) + NO (g) ΔH = ???

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Reverse 3/2x (2NO (g) + O2 (g) → 2NO2 (g)) -3/2 x (ΔH = -116 kJ )
½x (2N2 (g) + 5O2 (g) + 2H2O (l) → 4HNO3 (aq) ) ½ x (ΔH = -256 kJ)
Reverse (N2 (g) + O2 (g) → 2NO (g)) -1 x (ΔH = +183 kJ)

3NO2 (g) → 3NO (g) + 3/2 O2 (g) ΔH = +174 kJ

N2 (g) + 5/2 O2 (g) + H2O (l) → 2HNO3 (aq) ΔH = -128 kJ)
2NO (g) → N2 (g) + O2 (g) ΔH = -183 kJ)

3NO2 (g) + N2 (g) + 5/2 O2 (g) + H2O (l)+ 2NO (g) →3NO (g) + 3/2 O2 (g) + 2HNO3 (aq) + N2 (g) + O2 (g)

3NO2 (g) + H2O (l) → NO (g) + 2HNO3 (aq) ΔH =-137 kJ

WE DO:
Calculate the enthalpy for the reaction:
A+2B→C+2D
If:
4B+3E→ 2C ΔH = 124 kJ
2D + 3/2 E → A ΔH = - 15 kJ

YOU DO:
1) Nitrogen dioxide, NO2, can be formed from nitrogen and oxygen according to the reaction below:
N2 (g) + 2O2 (g) → 2NO2 (g) ΔH = ?
Use Hess’s Law to calculate the enthalpy for the formation of NO2, using the following two equations:
N2(g) + O2(g) → 2NO(g) ΔH= +180 kJ
2NO2(g) → 2NO(g) + O2(g) ΔH= +112 kJ

2) Calculate the enthalpy for the following reaction:

2 A (s) + B (g) → A2B (s)
If:
A(s) → A (g) ΔH = + 22 kJ
2 A (g) + B (g) → A2B (g) ΔH = - 52 kJ
A2B (s)→ A2B (l) ΔH = + 12 kJ
A2B (l)→ A2B (g) ΔH = + 32 kJ

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3) Find the enthalpy for the reaction: PCl3(g) + Cl2(g) → PCl5(g)
Given the reactions:
P4(s) + 6Cl2 (g) → 4PCl3(g) ΔH = -2439 kJ
4 PCl5 (g) → P4(s) + 10 Cl2 (g) ΔH = 3438 kJ

4) Acetylene is a fuel used in welding torches. Calculate the heat released in the reaction for the
combustion of acetylene:
2 C2H2 (g) + 5 O2(g) → 4 CO2 (g) + 2 H2O (g)

C2H2(g) + 2 H2(g) → C2H6 (g) ΔH = -94.5 kJ

2 H2O (g) → 2 H2 (g) + O2 (g) ΔH = 142.4 kJ
2 C2H6 (g) + 7 O2 (g) → 4 CO2 (g) + 6H2O (g) ΔH =-566 kJ

5) Find the enthalpy for the reaction between hydrochloric acid, HCl, and sodium nitrite, NaNO2.
HCl(g) + NaNO2 (s) → HNO2 (l) + NaCl(s)

NO(g) + NO2(g) + Na2O (s) → 2 NaNO2 (s) ΔH = -427 kJ

NO(g) + NO2(g) → N2O (g) + O2 (g) ΔH = -43 kJ
2 HNO2 (l) → N2O (g) + O2 (g) + H2O (l) ΔH = 34 kJ
2 NaCl (s) + H2O (l) → 2HCl (g) + Na2O (s) ΔH=507 kJ