Chemistry – The Science of

Change
Chemical Reactions
 Physical change
• No change in chemical composition of the
substance
• Easily reversible
• Physical mixtures are easily separated
• Energy changes are small
• Examples?
 Chemical changes/ reactions
• A new chemical substance is the result of the
change
• More difficult to reverse
• Difficult to separate
• Large energy changes
• Examples?
 Energetics of Reactions
• Reactions can be endothermic or exothermic
• Exothermic reactions GIVE OUT heat to their
surroundings.
• Reaction mixture and surroundings become
hotter. How can this be measured?
• Endothermic reactions TAKE IN heat from their
surroundings
• Reaction mixture and surroundings become
colder
• Breaking of any bond is an endothermic
process
• Making/forming any bond is an exothermic
process
 Endothermic reactions
• In endothermic reactions, the reactants are at
a lower energy level than the products
• Difference in energy is taken in as heat
 Exothermic reactions
• In exothermic reactions, the reactants are at a
higher energy level than the products
• Difference in energy is given out as heat
 Calculating reaction energetics
Bond Bond energy (kJ/mol) source
H-H 436 Hydrogen gas
C-H 435 Methane
O-H 464 Water
C-C 347 Avg of many compounds
O=O 497 Oxygen gas
C=O 803 Carbon dioxide
N=N 945 Nitrogen gas

• These values allow us to determine the heat exchange that occurs in a reaction
 Formation of water
• 2H2 + O2 🡪 2H2O
• Bond energies of reactants
🡪 H-H... 436 ×2 = 872
🡪 O-O…497 kJ
• Bond energies of products
🡪 2 × 2 × O-H… 464× 4 = 1856kJ
🡪 The heat of the reaction, ΔH = energy
difference
• ΔH = (872+497) - 1856= -486 kJ/mol
• The reaction is very exothermic
 Combustion of fossil fuels
CH4 + O2 🡪 CO2 + H2O

1)
2) C8H18 + O2 🡪 CO2 + H2O
 Chemical Kinetics
• How quickly a chemical reaction moves/ the
speed of a reaction/ THE RATE OF A REACTION
• Not all reactions take place at the same rate
• Some get over almost instantly, some take
very long (eg. Rusting)
• How do reactions happens?
• What affects their rate?
 Collision Model
• Reactions happen when particles collide with
each other
• Reaction depends on colliding particles having
the correct orientation and enough energy
• Energy required for a reaction to take place, at
the moment of impact – Activation Energy
• Rate of a reaction depends on:
– Collision frequency
– Energy of colliding particles
 1. Concentration
• Applicable to solutions and gas mixtures
• As concentration increases, NUMBER of
collisions increases 🡪 collision frequency
increases.
• Rate increases
• For gases, increasing pressure 🡪 increase in
concentration
 2. Surface Area
• Applicable only to solids
• Reactions involving solids takes place only at
the surface at “Active sites”
• Higher surface area 🡪 more active sites 🡪
higher rate
• How can we increase the surface area of a
solid?
 3. Temperature
• Rate of the reaction increases with increase in
temperature
• Collision frequency increases. Why?
• Energy of the particles increases. Why?
• Increase in energy of each particle is primary
cause. Activation energy is easily met.
 4. Catalysts
• A substance that alters the rate of a reaction
without undergoing a net change itself.
• Catalysts can either increase (positive
catalysts) or decrease (negative catalysts) the
rate. Negative catalysts are also called poisons.
• CATALYSTS TAKE PART IN THE REACTION. BUT
ARE UNCHANGED AT THE END!!!
Industry Catalyst
Ammonia manufacture Iron
Sulphuric acid manufacture Vanadium (V) oxide
Nitric acid manufacture Platinum-rhodium alloy
Manufacture of alcohol + Bakeries Zymase (enzyme in yeast)
Conversion of methanol to hydrocarbons Zeolite
Conversion of waste from paper mill TAML activators
 Enzymes
• Enzymes are biological catalysts
• They are proteins
• They are usually very specific – one enzyme
for one kind of reaction, or for one particular
substrate
• Sensitive to temperature – optimal temp 35 –
40 ⁰C. Temperature higher than 45⁰ destroys
the enzyme
• pH sensitive – work best around pH 7
• Look up an enzyme and identify what it acts
 Photochemistry
• The role of light in chemical reactions
• Certain reactions achieve their activation
energy by electromagnetic radiation
• So the amount of light and the energy of the
light that falls on the reaction mixture affects
the rate
 Photosynthesis

• Happens in chloroplasts of cells which contain chlorophyll

 Photography
• Photographic film consists of silver salts (AgI)
suspended in gelatin which is coated on
flexible plastic or paper
• When light hits the silver salts, the Ag+ ions
become metallic silver.
• Ag+ 🡪 Ag
• This process of reduction of silver ions to
silver leads to the formation of the negative
image.