Question

How can I explain exothermic reactions in terms of bond breaking?

Answer 1

In a chemical reaction if energy is absorbed by the reactants then the chemical reaction is called endothermic and if the energy is going to be released after the chemical reaction with the products then the reaction is called exothermic reaction.

Complete answer:
- In the question it is asked how to explain the exothermic reaction in terms of bond breaking.
- Generally in exothermic reactions energy is going to be released in the form of heat or light after the completion of the reaction.
- In an endothermic reaction the energy is going to be absorbed by the reactants. The reason behind the absorption of energy is that the bonds in the reactants are too strong, so the reactants absorb energy from outside to make the reaction happen.
- While coming to exothermic reaction energy is going to be released after completion of the chemical reaction is because the formation of the bonds in the products needs very less amount of energy and the remaining amount of energy not utilized in the reaction is going to be released in the form of heat or light.
- Therefore in exothermic reactions the products have strong chemical bonds when compared to reactants.

Note:
If energy is going to be released in a chemical reaction then it is going to be represented on the products side if energy is going to be absorbed in a chemical reaction then it is going to be represented on the reactant side.