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Energy Changes
infoWhy this? This unit helps pupils understand that chemical reactions involve energy transfers, allowing them to explain exothermic and endothermic processes in everyday, industrial and biological contexts.
scheduleWhy now? It is placed here because pupils have already studied a range of reactions and can now compare them in terms of the energy changes involved.
neurologyYou need to know
- An exothermic reaction transfers energy to the surroundings, so the temperature of the surroundings increases.
- An endothermic reaction takes in energy from the surroundings, so the temperature of the surroundings decreases.
- A reaction can be identified as exothermic if the measured temperature of the surroundings rises during the reaction.
- A reaction can be identified as endothermic if the measured temperature of the surroundings falls during the reaction.
- In an exothermic reaction profile, the reactants have more energy than the products, so the overall energy change is negative.
- In an endothermic reaction profile, the products have more energy than the reactants, so the overall energy change is positive.
- Activation energy is the minimum energy needed for reacting particles to react successfully.
- A reaction profile shows the relative energies of reactants and products, the activation energy, and the overall energy change as the reaction proceeds.
- Breaking chemical bonds requires energy, so bond breaking is endothermic.
- Making chemical bonds releases energy, so bond making is exothermic.
- The overall energy change of a reaction is the energy needed to break bonds minus the energy released when new bonds are made.
- If more energy is released by making bonds than is needed to break bonds, the reaction is exothermic.
- If more energy is needed to break bonds than is released by making bonds, the reaction is endothermic.
- Cells contain chemicals that react to produce electricity.
- A simple cell can be made by connecting two different metals in contact with an electrolyte.
- The potential difference produced by a cell depends on factors including the type of electrodes and the electrolyte used.
- Rechargeable cells and batteries can be recharged because an external electrical current reverses the chemical reactions inside them.
- A fuel cell is supplied continuously with an external fuel, such as hydrogen, and oxygen or air.
- The overall reaction in a hydrogen fuel cell is the oxidation of hydrogen to produce water.
- In an alkaline hydrogen fuel cell, the hydrogen electrode half equation is `2H_2 + 4OH^- \rightarrow 4H_2O + 4e^-` and the oxygen electrode half equation is `O_2 + 2H_2O + 4e^- \rightarrow 4OH^-`.
rocket_launchYou must be able to
- Classify a reaction as exothermic or endothermic using temperature change data for the surroundings.
- Evaluate uses of exothermic and endothermic reactions by linking temperature change, energy transfer, usefulness, risks, and practical limitations.
- Draw a reaction profile with labelled reactants, products, activation energy, overall energy change, and a curved line showing the progress of the reaction.
- Use a reaction profile to identify whether a reaction is exothermic or endothermic from the relative energies of reactants and products.
- Calculate the energy needed to break bonds by multiplying each bond energy by the number of bonds broken.
- Calculate the energy released when bonds are made by multiplying each bond energy by the number of bonds formed.
- Calculate the overall energy change for a reaction using bond energies and state whether the reaction is exothermic or endothermic.
- Interpret cell data to compare the relative reactivity of metals and predict which metal combinations give a larger potential difference.
- Evaluate the use of cells, batteries, and hydrogen fuel cells by comparing factors such as voltage, rechargeability, fuel supply, emissions, cost, and practicality.
Revision Quiz
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