Chemistry and chemical energy are all around us; they’re even part of us. Chemical energy is a part of everyday life. It deals with chemical change when chemical compounds act and react at the molecular level.  

Chemical energy can be found in batteries, food, wood, firecrackers, cars, and other everyday items that we use in our lives.  

If high school chemistry wasn’t your strong point, you’re not alone. Consider this your primer on chemical energy and how it works. 

What Is Chemical Energy?  

Chemical energy is one of six primary forms of energy: chemical, electrical, radiant, mechanical, thermal, and nuclear. 

While there are other forms of energy (electrochemical, sound, and electromagnetic), these are usually a combination of the primary six forms. What’s more, these six forms of energy can be combined to create energy relying on one form or another. 

Energy is required to do work. In terms of science, “work” is the force needed to move an object over a distance. For chemical energy, that means energy is released when chemical potential energy undergoes a chemical reaction. When we harness the energy released, work can be performed on a large or small scale, from burning stars to crooking your little finger.  

Chemical energy is contained within the bonds of chemical compounds at a molecular level. When there’s a chemical reaction between the molecules of chemical compounds, a new substance may form, and energy may be released. When chemical energy is released, it can be made to perform work. 

When you boil water, you create an endothermic reaction because the water absorbs the heat. Likewise, when a gas (in this example, steam) condenses to a liquid, it releases heat, which is an exothermic process.  

Enthalpy is an essential concept in how energy is used. A system’s enthalpy determines the energy required to break or form chemical bonds within that system. Although, for the most part, chemical bonds don’t break or form spontaneously; energy is needed.  

Interestingly, only the change in enthalpy can be measured, not its amount. In our example above, we can measure the change in temperature or water vapor. 

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Which Chemical Reaction Absorbs Energy? 

When a chemical reaction uses or absorbs more energy than it releases, it’s called an endothermic reaction. During energy absorption, molecular bonds of a chemical compound are broken and produce new bonds. Endothermic reactions result in a temperature decrease. 

Some examples of that temperature decrease are melting ice cubes and water evaporation. With heat (ambient or applied), ice cubes convert from a solid state to a liquid form. Likewise, evaporating water changes water from a liquid to a gaseous state, both endothermic reactions. 

Photosynthesis is another example of an endothermic reaction. As sunlight (radiant energy) warms a plant, it converts sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water into oxygen, glucose, and water.  

What Chemical Reactions Release Energy? 

When chemical reactions release energy, they’re called exothermic reactions. During exothermic reactions, chemical bonds release more energy than they use to create their end products. As a result, temperature decreases in endothermic reactions. 

Several exothermic reactions produce energy: combustion, corrosion, neutralization, and water-based reactions.  

An example of a combustion reaction is simply striking a match.  

A corrosion reaction could be rusting metal or a tarnishing teapot – the result of oxidation 

Neutralization happens when you combine an acid and a base; one typical example is using antacids (a base) to treat your heartburn (caused by stomach acid).  

Finally, a water-based exothermic reaction occurs when ice forms because the heat from the water dissipates into the colder surrounding air. 

What Role Does Thermodynamics Play in Chemical Energy? 

Thermodynamicsin Chemical Energy | Photo of Campfiresource

Chemistry is predictable: a chemical process will produce the same result under specific conditions. Thermodynamics, which govern the relationships between energy and work and the flow between them, underpin energy forces. 

The first law of thermodynamics (Law of Conservation of Energy), says that energy cannot be created or destroyed. In other words, the amount of energy is always the same everywhere in the universe. However, it can change forms. We saw how chemical energy changes form in our discussion of endothermic and exothermic energy.  

The other two laws of thermodynamics deal with the effects of entropy, which is a thermodynamic property that defines a given system’s thermal energy per temperature unit that isn’t available to do work. That’s a lot to unpack. 

For example, consider a campfire. You begin with a log, which represents a form of potential energy. Only when you burn the log does that the energy release. Entropy dictates that the energy flow in our example moves outward as radiant and light energy 

In discussing thermodynamic values, scientists refer to the relationship between a defined or closed system and its surroundings. In our example, the burning log is a closed system. The radiant and light energy move from that system to the surrounding air.  

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What Are Examples of Chemical Energy in Everyday Life? 

Remember as a child when you presented a volcano at the school’s science fair? Or maybe you’re a parent and your child has done this. In either case, chances are baking soda and vinegar (cold) or yeast and hydrogen peroxide (hot) were involved in simulating a volcanic eruption. Depending on which ingredients you used, they exemplify endothermic and exothermic chemical reactions, respectively. 

Other everyday examples of chemical energy include: 

  • Your body converts the food you eat through digestion to produce chemical energy by turning carbohydrates into glucose. Your bloodstream carries the glucose to all the cells in your body. Then, your body uses the chemical energy glucose provides. 
     
  • Burning the hydrocarbons in fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, produces heat energy. Gasoline, another form of fossil fuel, powers cars and generators. Natural gas heats homes and generates electricity when it’s burned. 

How Many Types of Energy Are There and What Are They?  

There are several kinds of chemical energy, some primary and some combinations of the primary types. Each of those types can be classified by its energy state: potential and kinetic 

The energy of an object in motion is kinetic. Examples of kinetic energy include the Earth’s rotation around the sun or a walk in the park. Kinetic energy is usually measured in joules. 

There are five kinds of kinetic energy: mechanical, electrical, radiant, thermal, and sound. 

Mechanical Energy  

Different energy resources produce mechanical energy to make turbines produce electricity. Wind energy spins turbine blades to turn the generator drive shaft, which creates electricity. Steam works the same way to generate electrical power. As water moves through hydro turbines, it generates energy that becomes electricity. 

Electrical Energy  

Electrical energy can be considered either potential or kinetic energy. When the electric charge flows, it’s moving, making it kinetic energy. Electricity generation occurs when electrons move and push each electron into the next. For example, electrons move through overhead wires into your house and are kinetic energy. However, until you flip the light switch, it remains potential energy 

Radiant Energy 

Often described as a particle, radiant energy is the energy the particle carries. For example, a photon has radiant energy but isn’t energy in and of itself — sources of radiant energy fall across the entire electromagnetic radiation spectrum: gamma rays, X-rays, etc. Light and heat are more traditional sources of radiant energy, like when we feel the heat of the sun. 

Because the sun emits electromagnetic waves that travel through space, it’s a great example of radiant energy. It’s the movement of those waves that makes it kinetic energy. So when we catch a few rays on a sunny day, the sunlight warms the skin. Likewise, we can receive power from the sun through solar panels 

Thermal (Heat) Energy 

People often become confused about what thermal energy is. Often, they mistake the form of heat for its cause. 

Atomic and molecular particle movement within a system produces thermal energy. For example, Iceland’s power plants harness the thermal energy of its volcanoes to produce hot water and heat buildings. 

By definition, thermal energy references flowing energy in a system; the resulting heat is a byproduct of the flow of thermal material. So it’s the flow that makes it kinetic energy 

Sound Energy 

Sound energy occurs when sound waves make an object or substance vibrate. For example, when you’re attending a loud, indoor concert and the music makes the walls or furniture vibrate, that’s sound energy. When you see ripples in your drink, that’s kinetic energy.  

We measure a sound wave by its wavelength, period, amplitude, and frequency, regardless of whether the tide is longitudinal or transverse (the direction the sound travels) or the medium through which it travels. 

Light Energy 

Although we didn’t include it in our list of five main types of kinetic energy, light energy should not be overlooked. It’s unique for several reasons. First, light behaves like a particle (photons) and a wave. It travels in a photon stream and as an electromagnetic wave. It’s also the only form of energy we can actually see. In every other energy form, we see the effects of the power, not the energy itself.  

Whether it’s a rooftop panel or a utility-scale array, photovoltaic cells (aka solar panels) generate solar energy in three basic steps:  

  • Absorbed light knocks electrons loose 
  • Flowing electrons create current 
  • Captured current transfers to wiring 

Because of its dual nature (wave and particle) light energy is kinetic energy. 

What Is Potential Chemical Energy? 

Potential Chemical Energy | Hands Hold Batteriessource

Stored energy is potential energy – energy that’s waiting for a catalytic action to become kinetic energy. Batteries, a car with a full gas tank, or a book teetering on the edge of a bookshelf are potential energy examples. 

A boulder on a ledge can have gravitational potential energy because of its height. If the rock falls, the gravitational force has unleashed the power – unless and until it falls, its energy is stored (potential). 

We’ve talked about how chemical energy works: chemical compounds react to release or consume energy. For example, new substances may consume energy to form; the mixture may release energy when chemical bonds break apart.  

A form of chemical energy at a cellular biological level, Adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) is the primary molecule for storing and transferring power. It holds energy for future reactions or fuels reactions when energy is required. Regardless, ATP bond energy must be present because it’s an energy carrier. 

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What Can Chemical Energy Be Converted Into? 

Chemical energy is the potential energy found in the bonds of chemical compounds and can be stored in batteries for later conversion to electricity.  

In a battery, chemical reactions push electrons to form an electrical current that powers the tools of our everyday lives: smartphones, watches, computers, flashlights, and generators are just a few examples.  

On a biological level, chemical energy fuels plants and animals by converting their food to sustain them. Eating provides the fuel for the chemical processes of digestion and energy distribution. 

Chemical energy is potential energy waiting to be released and used. 

How Is Chemical Energy Used? 

Chemical energy, found in many energy-rich molecules on Earth, undergoes one of many reactions to become kinetic energy. For example, oxygen is the most common chemical energy-containing molecule. When ignited, oxygen mixed with hydrocarbons such as fossil fuels, wood, and other plant material or biofuels undergoes chemical transformation to release energy.  

What Are the Disadvantages Of Chemical Energy? 

Chemical energy has a few “cons” that should be mentioned. For starters, chemical energy isn’t a clean form of energy. Most forms of chemical energy are only possible through combustion, or other forms of consumption, or production of by-products. Emissions are often a byproduct of those processes, which can negatively impact the planet. 

Chemical energy resources are also not considered renewable energy sources as they have to be replenished. Think back to our campfire. The log that’s been burning on the fire all this time is used up, leaving ash. It’s impossible to convert ash to wood; we can only put another log on the fire. 

Chemical Energy: It Powers Our Lives 

Chemical energy powers our lives every day. Indeed, it powers life itself. That energy is stored within the bonds of chemical compounds, waiting to be used in endothermic or exothermic reactions 

It’s impossible to create energy or destroy it; energy can only change forms. One of many forms of energy, chemical energy, is potential energy. It rarely releases its inherent energy spontaneously. Instead, it requires some catalyst or ignition.  

Some disadvantages challenge reliance on chemical energy: It’s not a truly renewable resource, and its byproducts can be harmful. However, technology is continually advancing to ensure we have a brighter future for ourselves and the planet.  

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