chemistry in society Flashcards
how are industrial processes designed?
to maximise profits and minimise the impact on the environment
factors influencing industrial design
- availability, sustainability and cost of feedstock
- opportunities for recycling
- energy requirements
- marketability of by products
- product yield
environmental factors taken into consideration when designing industrial processes
- minimising waste
avoiding the use or production of toxic substances - designing products which will be biodegradable if appropriate
molar volume equation
mV = volume/number of moles
percentage yield
used to compare the yield of a product actually obtained with what could have been obtained in theory
% yield = (actual yield/theoretical yield) x 100
atom economy
measure of the % of reactant that becomes useful products, tells chemists how efficient a process is
% AE = mass desired products/total mass of reactants
limiting and excess reactants
limiting = reactant in a chemical reaction which is used up when reaction stops
excess = reactants left over at the end of the reaction
why do reaction rates need to be controlled?
if they are too low, the process will not be economical.
if they are too high, there is a risk of explosion.
relative rate equation
relative rate = 1/time
factors affecting reaction rate
concentration, particle size, temperature, pressure (gaseous reactants only), collision geometry
reaction enthalpies
endothermic = positive enthalpy
exothermic = negative enthalpy
activation energy
minimum energy required by particles to form an activated complex, if they don’t have sufficient energy then the collision will not occur.
difference between highest energy and energy of reactants on graph
activated complex
unstable arrangement of atoms formed at the top of the potential energy barrier (found at top of graph)
how does a catalyst affect the activation energy?
provides an alternative pathway for the reaction which has a lower activation energy, so more particles will have enough energy to collide
how does changing temperature affect the reaction rates - energy distribution diagrams
increasing the temperature means more particles will have sufficient energy to collide, so the curve will be lower and longer on graph.
enthalpy definition
measure of chemical energy in a substance
enthalpy of combustion definition
energy change when one mole of a substance burns completely in oxygen
what does Hess’s Law state?
enthalpy change of a reaction is independent of the route taken (no matter the route taken, the enthalpy change will always be the same for a reaction)
molar bond enthalpy
energy required to break one mole of bonds in a diatomic molecule
mean molar bond enthalpy
energy required to break one mole of bonds that occur in a non-diatomic molecule.
the mean is used for certain bonds as the energy required differs depending on where the bond is found.
how do you calculate the enthalpy change for a reaction using bond enthalpies
energy put in - energy given out
dynamic equilibrium
rates of forward and reverse reactions are equal.
closed system
reaction is carried out in a sealed container so no reactants or products are lost
describe the concentrations of reactants and products at equilibrium
constant but rarely equal