Most chemical reactions involve the absorption or the release of energy.

When a candle burns, for example, energy is released in the form of heat and
light.
Energy can also be released in other forms.
The chemical reaction in a battery releases
energy in the form of electricity. And some
reactions absorb energy rather than release
it. Chemicals on the surface of photographic
firm, for example, absorb light energy as they
react to produce the image on the film.
We will be concerned only with the release and absorption of heat.
Enthalpy
When energy is released in a reaction, the products of the reaction must end
up with less stored energy than the reactants had. Such a reaction is called
an exothermic reaction because heat exits the chemicals in the course of
the reaction.
You can detect most exothermic reactions
because the heat they release causes the
temperature to increase. The most familiar
exothermic reaction is probably combustion.
When combustible materials combined with
oxygen, heat is released and the
temperature of the burning materials
increases. Usually the heat is sufficient to
cause the gaseous products to glow. These
hot, glowing gases are what we perceive as
a flame.

When energy is absorbed, the products end up with more stored energy than
the reactants. This kind of reaction is called an endothermic reaction
because heat energy enters the chemicals in the course of the reaction.

Endothermic reactions are less common

than exothermic ones. One you may
have seen occurs inside portable ice
packs used in athletics. When the ice
pack is activated, a chemical reaction
occurs that absorbs energy, and the
temperature of the chemicals falls,
cooling the injury. Another endothermic
reaction occurs when you charge a
battery. Electrical energy is absorbed
(and stored for later use) when a
battery is connected to a charger.

Energy that is stored in chemicals is called enthalpy and its given the
symbol H. During the course of a reaction, the enthalpy content of the
chemicals changes as the atoms and the molecules rearrange themselves
from reactants into products. This change in enthalpy content is given the
symbol H.

Stored energy does not affect the temperature of a chemical. Only when the
energy is converted from its stored form into heat does the temperature rise.
And, of course, when energy is converted from heat into its stored form, the
temperature falls. TNT (tri-nitro toluene) and nitroglycerine are examples of
chemicals in which there is a great deal of stored energy. They are normally
at room temperature, but when they react.
The exact definition of H, the enthalpy of the products minus the enthalpy
of the reactants, means that when energy is released, H is a negative
number and when energy is absorbed, H is a positive number.

This definition means that what we have

called H reflects the change in energy
content of the chemicals undergoing the
reaction. When the chemicals lose energy
(it is releases), H is negative, that is,
their energy content undergoes a
negative change. We use the same
convention talking about money: when we
lose money (it's released?) we describe
the loss as a negative cash flow.

We can represent the energy changes associated with a reaction with a

reaction diagram. This diagram shows that change in stored energy, that
is, how the enthalpy changes, as the reaction progresses.
Reaction diagrams are rarely
labeled. They are qualitative rather
than quantitative. In other words,
they show whether energy is being
released or absorbed without
showing exactly how much. As we
see, they nevertheless give a
significant amount of useful
information about the reaction.
The horizontal axis represents the
course of the reaction. Reactants
are located on the left end of the
axis while products are on the
right. The vertical axis slows the
amount of stored energy they
have. The dot on this graph
represents reactants with relatively
low enthalpy.
The single dot represents all of the
reactants and the total amount of
energy they have stored. Its

position on the left hand side of

the graph indicates that the
reaction has not yet begun. Its
position toward the bottom of the
graph indicates that the reactants
have a relatively low amount of
stored energy.

As the reaction proceeds, the dot moves to the right. When it reaches the
right side of the graph, it represents the products. Its movement from left to
right represents the reactant atoms and the molecules in the process of
rearranging themselves reacting to become products.

This is obviously an oversimplified representation of most reactions. But

since all we are interested in is the difference in enthalpy between the
reactants and the products, we need not specify the nature of the chemicals
involved at all.
Rather than a moving dot, we use a line to indicate the path the reaction
takes. In this reaction, the products have a greater enthalpy content that the
reactants did. This reaction is therefore endothermic and its H is positive.

The atoms involved in this reaction have more stored energy when they are
in the form of products than they did when they were in the form of reactants
their enthalpy content has increased.
Here are reaction diagrams for several endothermic reactions. The amount of
heat absorbed is equal to the difference in height between products and
reactants. Which of these reactions is the most endothermic? Which is the
least endothermic?

Reaction B is the most endothermic while reaction C is the least. The

value of H in each case is shown graphically as the height difference
between the enthalpy of products and the enthalpy of reactants. We
assume that all four diagrams are on the same scale of energy.

Here is a diagram for an exothermic reaction. In this case, the enthalpy of

the products is less that that of the reactants. The resulting change enthalpy
is negative.

In this reaction, energy is released. The

atoms have more stored when they are
arranged in the form of reactants than they
do when they are in the form of products.

Each of the reactions diagrams we have seen has a high spot in the middle
where the stored energy is greater than either reactants or products. To
understand why, we need to know how energy is stored in chemicals.
What the hump in this diagram implies is
that before energy can be released in
this reaction, first a small amount of
energy must be absorbed.
An illustration of that is a common
match. It burns and releases energy, but
not spontaneously, first you must supply
a little energy in this case, the heat
generated by the friction of rubbing it
against the striker on the matchbook.

When the atoms in a reaction rearrange in going from reactants to

products, they break existing chemical bonds and form new ones.

{Not every reaction involves both breaking old bonds and making new ones.
A few involve only one of these. However, we will talk about the most
general and most common case, reactions in which both bond making
and bond breaking occur.}
Breaking a chemical bond requires energy. When energy is absorbed in a
chemical reaction, this is where it goes. By the same token, the formation of

a chemical bond releases energy. In an exothermic reaction, this is where the

released energy comes from.
It shouldnt be surprising that breaking a
bond, of any kind, requires an input of energy.
Imagine the bond between two strong
magnets, for example: you have to work
pretty hard to get them apart. What is less
obvious is that forming a bond releases
energy. Think of the magnets again. If they
are close enough to attract each other, they
will pull your hands together as they bond
doing work (another form of energy) on you in
the process.

Before the atoms in a chemical reaction can form new bonds, they must first
break their existing bonds. Thus, a chemical reaction must start with the
absorption of energy.
Actually, the old bonds do not have to be
completely broken before new bonds can
start forming. It is true, however, that the
old bond must start breaking before the new
bonds can start forming. Energy is therefore
being absorbed and released at the same
time. The balance between these two
processes determines the exact path of the
reaction diagram.

The exact arrangement of the atoms, somewhere between reactants and

products, at which the amount of stored energy is a maximum, is called the
transition state of activated complex.

The structure of the activated

complex is often difficult to
determine because the atoms
adopt this arrangement only in
passing. Often we must guess
as to the exact arrangement,
but is typically involves old
bonds which are partially broken
and new bonds which are
partially formed.
On the other hand, it is
relatively easy to measure
experimentally the energy of
the transition state.
The amount of energy that must first
be absorbed to reach the activated
complex is called the activation
energy, Ea. As we will see, the value of
the activation energy plays a major
role in determining how fast the
reaction goes.

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Summarize your notes

Define enthalpy
Explain the difference between endothermic and exothermic.
Draw a graph illustrating an endothermic reaction.
Draw a graph illustrating an exothermic reaction.
Classify each processes as endothermic or exothermic (tip:
use your resources):
a. The burning of magnesium in air

b. The crystallization of copper(II) sulfate from a saturated

solution
c. The thermal decomposition of magnesium nitrate
d. The fermentation of glucose by yeast
e. The evaporation of sea water