Chemical Energetics

Chemistry
0620
Changes during a Reaction
Physical Changes
 No new substance is formed
 Easily reversible
 Solution making is a physical change
Chemical Changes
 New substance(s) are formed
 Difficult to reverse
 There may be signs that a new substance
has formed, such as:
• A colour change
• A precipitate being formed
• Bubbles of gas being produced
Exothermic Reactions
• Exothermic reaction transfers thermal
energy to the surroundings leading to an
increase in the temperature of the
surroundings
Endothermic
Reactions
• Endothermic reaction takes in thermal
energy from the surroundings leading to a
decrease in the temperature of the
surroundings
Bond making

• Making bonds releases energy.

Bond breaking

• Breaking bonds takes in energy

 A diagram that shows the energy levels of the
Energy Level reactants and products in a chemical reaction
and shows whether a reaction is exothermic or
Diagrams endothermic.
 1. Energy of reactants and products on y-axis
2. Reaction pathway (progress of reaction) on x-axis,
with reactants on left and products on right.
3. Energy change is indicated by an arrow (either
upward or downward)
Characteristics 4. Arrows on the diagrams indicate whether the
reaction is exothermic (overall reaction arrow is
of Energy downwards pointing, showing that the system has
Level Diagram lost energy) or endothermic (overall reaction arrow
is upwards pointing, showing that the system has
gained energy)
5. The difference in height between the energy of
reactants and products represents the overall
energy change (∆H) of a reaction.
 • Activation energy, Ea is the minimum energy that
colliding particles must have to react.
• For atoms or particles to react with each other in a
chemical system they must first encounter each other
in a collision
• A few factors come into play when analysing
collisions such as energy, orientation, and number
Activation of collisions per second (the frequency of
collisions)
Energy • In terms of the energy of the collision, there is
a minimum amount of energy required for the
collision to be successful, that is for the particles to
react together
• The greater the initial rise, the more energy that is
required to get the reaction going e.g. more heat
needed
Energy Level
Diagram for
Exothermic
Reaction
Examples
Energy Level
Diagram for
Endothermic
Reaction
Bond Energies
 This is the amount of energy required or released
when a bond is formed or broken, respectively.
 The unit measure of this energy is kJ/mol.
 The energy change in a reaction is calculated using
the following formula:
ΔH=Bond Breaking−Bond Forming
 If overall heat energy value is negative, reaction is
exothermic.
 If overall heat energy value is positive, reaction is
endothermic.
Enthalpy and Enthalpy Change (∆H)
• Thermal energy or heat content of the system is called enthalpy
• The transfer of thermal energy during a reaction is called the enthalpy change, ∆H, of
the reaction.
• ∆H is negative for exothermic reactions and positive for endothermic reactions
How to calculate enthalpy
change of a reaction using
bond energies ?
2NH3  N2 +3H2 Bond Bond Energy (kJ/mol)
N H 391
N N 946
H H 436