What is the physical vehicle for transfer of energy in a chemical reaction?
September 24th, 2009 | by Michael |
AskBrian asked:
In an exothermic chemical reaction, how is energy released? Usually it is simply expressed as reactants -> product + energy. But how is that energy emitted?
In an exothermic chemical reaction, how is energy released? Usually it is simply expressed as reactants -> product + energy. But how is that energy emitted?
I understand the release of electromagnetic energy through photons, but what other vehicles are there? Do the molecules gain random kinetic energy? Is it vibrational energy (phonons)?
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One Response to “What is the physical vehicle for transfer of energy in a chemical reaction?”
By hanumaster on Sep 24, 2009 | Reply
transfer of kinetic energy is one of the ways, which of course is manifested as heat. there is also change in mass (by very small amounts) but to describe this, you need a pretty thorough understanding of quantum physics