The Importance Of Enthalpy In Chemistry

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Enthalpy is defined as the change in heat, or ΔH. The change in heat of a specific reaction is symbolized by ΔH°rxn. The heat of a reaction is measured by the enthalpy of the product minus the enthalpy of the reactants. This heat of reaction, ΔH°rxn, is important for many reasons, including its use in metabolism, fuel combustion, food, everyday items like refrigerators and hand warmers, and other chemical processes.

One of the most important uses of ΔH°rxn is its role in metabolism. Metabolism is a set of reactions that create important energy sources for every living thing. Groups of these reactions are called metabolic pathways. These metabolic pathways use ΔH°rxn to break down molecules and turn them into usable energy. One example of this process is in a …show more content…

Most fuels are evaluated by how much energy is released during combustion. This energy that is released is the ΔH°rxn. Knowing the ΔH°rxn allows people to measure just how much energy a reaction is going to produce to see if the fuel is going to have enough energy or not enough. These fuels are used in many products that people use in their daily lives. For example, people use fuels to generate electricity, to heat their homes, and to power their cars. Some of the most common fuels are gasoline, coal, and natural gases. The ΔH°rxn value of gasoline is 45.0, the ΔH°rxn value of wood is 15.0, the ΔH°rxn of coal is 27.0, and the ΔH°rxn of natural gas is 54.0. The higher the ΔH°rxn value means that there is more energy released during the combustion of that specific fuel. For example, these number show that the energy released during the combustion of wood is much less than that of natural gas. These heat of reaction values are very important because they show just how much energy will be released during the use of the fuel. Without the ΔH°rxn, it would be dangerous to use certain fuels because the energy produced would be much greater than what is

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