Chemistry · Ch 4 — Chemical Thermodynamics
Introduction
Introduction
You know that the transformation of liquid water into vapour, of solid ice into liquid water, or the burning of carbon to form carbon dioxide, , are accompanied by a change in energy. In a dry cell, chemical energy is converted into electrical energy; on the other hand, in the electroplating of metals, electrical energy is converted into chemical energy. It may thus be realized that energy can be transformed from one form into another.
Do you know?
At the top of a dam, water is stored in a reservoir. It has a certain potential energy due to its height from the ground level, and its kinetic energy is negligible as it is not in motion. As the water starts to fall down through an outlet, its potential energy decreases and its kinetic energy increases due to the downward velocity. It means that the potential energy of falling water is converted into kinetic energy.
Thermodynamics is concerned with the energy changes in physical and chemical transformations. Thermodynamics, however, gives no information on the rates of physical or chemical processes, or on the underlying mechanisms involved in these.