CHAPTER 7

CHEMICAL
ENERGETICS
YEAR 10
 7.1 PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL
CHANGES
Physical Changes Chemical Changes
• The substances present remain chemically the
same: no new substances are formed.
• They are often easy to reverse. Any mixtures
produced are usually easy to separate.
• Example: ice, snow and water (different forms
of the same substance – water – existing under
different conditions. No new chemical
substances will form if the conditions change
and force them to change their form.)
• New substance(s) are made during the
reaction.
• Many reactions, but not all are hard to
reverse.
• Exothermic is when energy is given out.
• Endothermic is when energy is taken in.
• There are many more exothermic reactions
than endothermic reactions.
7.1 EXOTHERMIC AND
ENDOTHERMIC REACTIONS
 Exothermic: Processes that release heat energy to the surroundings.
 The thermal energy released leads to an increase in the temperature of the
surrounding. This includes:
 The reaction mixture in the test-tube
 The air around the test-tube
 The test-tube itself
 The thermometer or anything dipped into the test-tube

 Endothermic: Processes that take in heat energy from the surroundings.

 The heat energy is taken in by the reacting substances leads to the decrease in
surrounding temperature.
7.2 EXOTHERMIC AND
ENDOTHERMIC REACTIONS
 Methane is the simplest hydrocarbon molecules and it reacts with oxygen
when it burns. The products are carbon dioxide and water vapour:
CH4(g) + 2O2(g) CO2(g) + 2H2O(g)
 From this reaction, as well as others, bonds are first broken and then new
bonds are made.
 Chemical bonds are forces of attraction between atoms or ions and to break
these bonds require energy – energy must be taken in to break the atoms apart.
 New bonds are then formed and this process gives out energy.
 Breaking chemical bonds take in energy from surroundings and this is called
Endothermic Process.
 Making chemical bonds give out energy to the surroundings and this is called
Exothermic Process.

 In this reaction, the total energy given out is greater than the total energy taken
in. So, this is an exothermic reaction.
 The overall change for this exothermic reaction can be shown in an energy
level diagram (or energy profile).
 Energy is given out in this reaction because the bonds in the products are
stronger than the reactants.
 This shows that the products are more stable.
The reaction between nitrogen and oxygen
 Endothermic reactions are less common than exothermic ones.
 Reaction between nitrogen and oxygen is one of the reactions taking place
when fuel is burnt in car engines:
N2(g) + O2(g) 2NO(g)
 The bonding in the products are weaker than in the reactants. Overall, energy
is taken in by the reaction. The products are less stable.
Heat of reaction
 The energy change in going from reactants to products in a chemical reaction is
known as the heat of reaction.
 It is given the symbol ∆H (enthalpy change) and is measured in kilojoules(kJ);
1kJ = 1000J
 It is usually calculated per mole of a specific reactant or product (kJ/mol).
 Exothermic reaction – heat energy is given out (exits) and ∆H is negative.
 Endothermic reaction – heat energy is taken in (enters) and ∆H is positive.
Making and breaking bonds
 Experiments have been carried out to find out how much energy is needed to
break various covalent bonds in compounds.

 We can calculate the energy of reaction using bond energies:

1. Add together all the bond energies in the reactants – ‘energy in’.
2. Add together all the bond energies in the products – ‘energy out’.
3. Calculate the energy change: energy in – energy out
4. Positive or negative change will determine the heat of reaction.
Activation energy
 Most reactions require energy to start or trigger the reaction.
 When fuels are burnt for example, energy is needed to ignite them like match,
spark or sunlight.
 It is activation energy, EA. It is required because initially some bonds must be
broken before any reaction can take place. Once started, the energy released as
new bonds are formed causes the reaction to continue.
Activation energy
 Reactions can be thought of as the result of collisions between atoms, molecules
or ions. In many of these collisions, the colliding particles do not have enough
energy to react and they just bounce apart.
 A chemical reaction will only happen if the total energy of the colliding
particles is greater than the required activation energy.