Enthalpy in the context of "Lattice energy"

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⭐ Core Definition: Enthalpy

Enthalpy (/ˈɛnθəlpi/ ) is the sum of a thermodynamic system's internal energy and the product of its pressure and volume. It is a state function in thermodynamics used in many measurements in chemical, biological, and physical systems at a constant external pressure, which is conveniently provided by Earth's ambient atmosphere. The pressure–volume term expresses the work that was done against constant external pressure to establish the system's physical dimensions from to some final volume (as ), i.e. to make room for it by displacing its surroundings.The pressure-volume term is very small for solids and liquids at common conditions, and fairly small for gases. Therefore, enthalpy is a stand-in for energy in chemical systems; bond, lattice, solvation, and other chemical "energies" are actually enthalpy differences. As a state function, enthalpy depends only on the final configuration of internal energy, pressure, and volume, not on the path taken to achieve it.

In the International System of Units (SI), the unit of measurement for enthalpy is the joule. Other historical conventional units still in use include the calorie and the British thermal unit (BTU).

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Enthalpy in the context of Ocean heat content

Ocean heat content (OHC) or ocean heat uptake (OHU) is the energy absorbed and stored by oceans. It is an important indicator of global warming. Ocean heat content is calculated by measuring ocean temperature at many different locations and depths, and integrating the areal density of a change in enthalpic energy over an ocean basin or entire ocean.

Between 1971 and 2018, a steady upward trend in ocean heat content accounted for over 90% of Earth's excess energy from global warming. Scientists estimate a 1961–2022 warming trend of 0.43 ± 0.08 W/m², accelerating at about 0.15 ± 0.04 W/m² per decade. By 2020, about one third of the added energy had propagated to depths below 700 meters. The five highest ocean heat observations to a depth of 2000 meters all occurred in the period 2020–2024. The main driver of this increase has been human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

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Enthalpy in the context of Chemical energy

Chemical energy is the energy of chemical substances that is released when the substances undergo a chemical reaction and transform into other substances. Some examples of storage media of chemical energy include batteries, food, and gasoline (as well as oxygen gas, which is of high chemical energy due to its relatively weak double bond and indispensable for chemical-energy release in gasoline combustion). Breaking and re-making chemical bonds involves energy, which may be either absorbed by or evolved from a chemical system. If reactants with relatively weak electron-pair bonds convert to more strongly bonded products, energy is released. Therefore, relatively weakly bonded and unstable molecules store chemical energy.

Energy that can be released or absorbed because of a reaction between chemical substances is equal to the difference between the energy content of the products and the reactants, if the initial and final temperature is the same. This change in energy can be estimated from the bond energies of the reactants and products. It can also be calculated from , the internal energy of formation of the reactant molecules, and , the internal energy of formation of the product molecules. The internal energy change of a chemical process is equal to the heat exchanged if it is measured under conditions of constant volume and equal initial and final temperature, as in a closed container such as a bomb calorimeter. However, under conditions of constant pressure, as in reactions in vessels open to the atmosphere, the measured heat change is not always equal to the internal energy change, because pressure-volume work also releases or absorbs energy. (The heat change at constant pressure is equal to the enthalpy change, in this case the enthalpy of reaction, if initial and final temperatures are equal).

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Enthalpy in the context of State function

In the thermodynamics of equilibrium, a state function, function of state, or point function for a thermodynamic system is a mathematical function relating several state variables or state quantities (that describe equilibrium states of a system) that depend only on the current equilibrium thermodynamic state of the system (e.g. gas, liquid, solid, crystal, or emulsion), not the path which the system has taken to reach that state. A state function describes equilibrium states of a system, thus also describing the type of system. A state variable is typically a state function so the determination of other state variable values at an equilibrium state also determines the value of the state variable as the state function at that state. The ideal gas law is a good example. In this law, one state variable (e.g., pressure, volume, temperature, or the amount of substance in a gaseous equilibrium system) is a function of other state variables so is regarded as a state function. A state function could also describe the number of a certain type of atoms or molecules in a gaseous, liquid, or solid form in a heterogeneous or homogeneous mixture, or the amount of energy required to create such a system or change the system into a different equilibrium state.

Internal energy, enthalpy, and entropy are examples of state quantities or state functions because they quantitatively describe an equilibrium state of a thermodynamic system, regardless of how the system has arrived in that state. They are expressed by exact differentials. In contrast, mechanical work and heat are process quantities or path functions because their values depend on a specific "transition" (or "path") between two equilibrium states that a system has taken to reach the final equilibrium state, being expressed by inexact differentials. Exchanged heat (in certain discrete amounts) can be associated with changes of state function such as enthalpy. The description of the system heat exchange is done by a state function, and thus enthalpy changes point to an amount of heat. This can also apply to entropy when heat is compared to temperature. The description breaks down for quantities exhibiting hysteresis.

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Enthalpy in the context of Combustion

Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion does not always result in fire, because a flame is only visible when substances undergoing combustion vaporize, but when it does, a flame is a characteristic indicator of the reaction. While activation energy must be supplied to initiate combustion (e.g., using a lit match to light a fire), the heat from a flame may provide enough energy to make the reaction self-sustaining. The study of combustion is known as combustion science.

Combustion is often a complicated sequence of elementary radical reactions. Solid fuels, such as wood and coal, first undergo endothermic pyrolysis to produce gaseous fuels whose combustion then supplies the heat required to produce more of them. Combustion is often hot enough that incandescent light in the form of either glowing or a flame is produced. A simple example can be seen in the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen into water vapor, a reaction which is commonly used to fuel rocket engines. This reaction releases 242 kJ/mol of heat and reduces the enthalpy accordingly (at constant temperature and pressure):

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Enthalpy in the context of Enthalpy of vaporization

In thermodynamics, the enthalpy of vaporization (symbol Hvap), also known as the (latent) heat of vaporization or heat of evaporation, is the amount of energy (enthalpy) that must be added to a liquid substance to transform a quantity of that substance into a gas. The enthalpy of vaporization is a function of the pressure and temperature at which the transformation (vaporization or evaporation) takes place.

The enthalpy of vaporization is often quoted for the normal boiling temperature of the substance. Although tabulated values are usually corrected to 298 K, that correction is often smaller than the uncertainty in the measured value.

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Enthalpy in the context of Ring-opening polymerization

In polymer chemistry, ring-opening polymerization (ROP) is a form of chain-growth polymerization in which the terminus of a polymer chain attacks cyclic monomers to form a longer polymer (see figure). The reactive center can be radical, anionic or cationic.

Ring-opening of cyclic monomers is often driven by the relief of bond-angle strain. Thus, as is the case for other types of polymerization, the enthalpy change in ring-opening is negative. Many rings undergo ROP.

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Enthalpy in the context of Endothermic

An endothermic process is a chemical or physical process that absorbs heat from its surroundings. In terms of thermodynamics, it is a thermodynamic process with an increase in the enthalpy H (or internal energy U) of the system. In an endothermic process, the heat that a system absorbs is thermal energy transfer into the system. Thus, an endothermic reaction generally leads to an increase in the temperature of the system and a decrease in that of the surroundings.

The term was coined by 19th-century French chemist Marcellin Berthelot. The term endothermic comes from the Greek ἔνδον (endon) meaning 'within' and θερμ- (therm) meaning 'hot' or 'warm'.

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Enthalpy in the context of Bond energy

In chemistry, bond energy (BE) is one measure of the strength of a chemical bond. It is sometimes called the mean bond, bond enthalpy, average bond enthalpy, or bond strength. IUPAC defines bond energy as the average value of the gas-phase bond-dissociation energy (usually at a temperature of 298.15 K) for all bonds of the same type within the same chemical species.

The bond dissociation energy (enthalpy) is also referred to as bond disruption energy, bond energy, bond strength, or binding energy (abbreviation: BDE, BE, or D). It is defined as the standard enthalpy change of the following fission: R—X → R + X. The BDE, denoted by Dº(R—X), is usually derived by the thermochemical equation,

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