Module 5: Thermochemistry

At the completion of this chapter, students should be able to:

  • Define and distinguish between internal energy and enthalpy
  • Apply the first law of thermodynamics to relate the change in internal energy of a system to the transfer of energy between the system and its surroundings via heat and work.
  • Calculate the work for an irreversible expansion (or compression).
  • Calculate the enthalpy change for a chemical reaction from standard enthalpies of formation, (or atom combination enthalpies) and bond dissociation energies.
  • Based on the sign of the enthalpy change, state if a reaction is exothermic or endothermic
  • Perform calculations involving calorimetry to determine the change in  internal energy (or enthalpy) during a chemical reaction, heat transfer, and temperature change.
  • Apply Hess’ law of heat summation to determine the enthalpy of a reaction produced by the combination of other reactions of known enthalpy.