Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Energy is defined as the capacity to do work. There are many forms of energy –
-kinetic energy
-potential energy
-light
-sound
-nuclear energy
-geothermal energy
- the “old” bonds in the reagents to break, energy is absorbed so that this may occur
- new bonds then form in order to make the product, this causes the release of energy to
the surroundings
All reactions need a minimal amount of energy called the activation energy. If they have is
amount then the reaction will occur , beginning with the old bonds breaking
There are two types of reactions with respect to energy. They are called the endothermic
reactions and exothermic reactions. The table below compares the endothermic and
exothermic reactions
∆H = Ep – Er
The enthalpy of solution is the heat change which occurs when one mol of a solute is dissolved
in such a colume of solvent that further dilution by the solvent produces no further heat
change.
E = mc∆T
m = mass of solution
∆T = temperature change
Sample problem 1
5.35g of ammonium chloride was dissolved in 100mL of water. The temperature of the water
fell from 30°C to 20°C. Calculate the energy change per mole of ammonium chloride.
( c = 4.2 J K-1mol-1)
m = 100g = 100g
N = number of mol solute = mass of solute/ molar mass of solute = 5.35g/53.5 g mol -1 = 0.1 mol
N.B. that the temperature fell. Hence the reaction is endothermic. Therefore the sign is +
Sample problem 2
4g of sodium hydroxide was dissolved in 250 mL of water and the temperature rose by 2°C.
Calculate the enthalpy of solution ( energy change of solution for this reaction).
( c = 4.2 J K-1mol-1)
However, since this reaction is exothermic( temperature rose). Then the sign is –
Enthalpy of neutralization
This is the amount of energy released when one mole of water is formed during a neutralization
reaction between an acid and a base.
∆H neut = E/ nwater
Sample problem 3
In performing any enthalpy experiment, one will need a thermometer( or some device
to measure temperature) and an insulated reaction vessel ( eg Styrofoam cup or
calorimeter).
In addition to the abovementioned apparatus, a top loading balance is needed to
measure the mass of solute and a measuring cylinder or some other volume measuring
device to measure the volume of solvent used for the heat change( enthalpy change) of
solution.
The diagram below shows a set up for finding the enthalpy of solution. The solvent is
poured into the Styrofoam cup first and allowed to equilibrate. This is taken as the initial
temperature. The solute is then added quickly and the temperature is taken at a set
time interval until the temperature remains constant or falls.
In performing an enthalpy of neutralization experiment, the major items one will need
- A thermometer
- An insulated reaction vessel
- A burette
- A pipette etc
One will measure out a set volume of base into a Styrofoam cup and allow it to
equilibrate. This temperature is recorded. Then,the acid is added from the burette in
small volumes (eg 1 mL or 2 mL at a time). After each addition, the mixture is stirred and
the temperature is recorded. This continues until the values start to fall.
A graph is drawn of the data and this is used to find the final temperature and the
volume of acid needed to neutralize the base.
N.B. Interpolating from the point of intersection to the y-axis gives the final temperature for the
reaction.