AS LEVEL CHEMISTRY

2.3.1 ENTHALPY CHANGES

TEST

Answer all questions

Max 50 marks

Name ……………………………………………………………..

Mark ……../50 ……....% Grade ………

Paddington Academy 1
1. Methane reacts with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. The equation
for this reaction is given below.

CH4(g)  2O2(g)  CO2(g)  2H2O(g)

Gas cookers use methane as a fuel because this reaction is exothermic and
takes place at a fairly fast rate.

Activation energy is important in considering the conditions needed to change

the rate of a reaction.

(a) What is meant by the term exothermic?

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[1]

(b) The figure below is an incomplete enthalpy profile diagram for the reaction
between methane and oxygen.

C H 4 (g) + 2O 2 (g)
enthalpy

prog ress of reaction

(i) Complete the figure to show the complete enthalpy profile for the
reaction.
[2]

(ii) Label the activation energy, Ea, on the figure above.

[1]
[Total 4 marks]

Paddington Academy 2
2. This question is about hydrazine, N2H4, and ammonia, NH3. These are both
compounds of nitrogen and hydrogen.

(a) Hydrazine can be oxidised and used as a rocket fuel. The equation for one
possible reaction taking place is shown below.

H H
H
N N + O O N N + 2 O

H H H

Some average bond enthalpies are given below.

bond enthalpy / kJ
bond
mol–1

N–N 163

NN 945

N–H 390

O=O 497

O–H 463

(i) Use these data to calculate the enthalpy change for the reaction of
hydrazine with oxygen, as shown.

answer .................. kJ mol–1

[4]

(ii) Calculate the enthalpy change for one gram of hydrazine in this
reaction.

answer .................. kJ
[1]

Paddington Academy 3
 (b) Ammonia reacts with oxygen in a very similar way to that shown for
hydrazine. The enthalpy change for one gram of ammonia is
approximately the same as that for one gram of hydrazine.

Using the table above, suggest a reason why hydrazine is used as a

rocket fuel and ammonia is not.

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[1]
[Total 6 marks]

3. Energy changes during reactions can be considered using several different

enthalpy changes. These include average bond enthalpies and enthalpy
changes of combustion.

Table below shows the values of some average bond enthalpies.

bond average bond enthalpy / kJ

mol−1

C—H  410

O—H  465

O == O  500

C == O  805

C—O  336

(i) Why do bond enthalpies have positive values?

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[1]

(ii) Define the term bond enthalpy.

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Paddington Academy 4
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[2]

Paddington Academy 5
 (iii) The equation below shows the combustion of methanol, CH 3OH, in the
gaseous state.

O
H
H H
H C O H + 1 12 O O O C O + O
H H
H

Use the average bond enthalpies from the table above to calculate the
enthalpy change of combustion of gaseous methanol, Hc.

Hc = ......................................... kJ mol−1

[3]

(iv) Suggest two reasons why the standard enthalpy change of combustion of
methanol will be different from that calculated in part (iii).

reason
1 ..........................................................................................................

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reason
2 ..........................................................................................................

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[2]
[Total 8 marks]

Paddington Academy 6
4. In an experiment to determine the standard enthalpy change of combustion of
propan-1-ol, C3H7OH, a student used the apparatus shown below.

therm om eter

beaker

clam p
w ater

w ick
propan-1-ol

(a) Define the term enthalpy change of combustion.

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[2]

(b) Write the equation for the standard enthalpy change of combustion of
propan-1-ol, C3H7OH.

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[2]

(c) The student measured 50.0 cm3 of water into the beaker and lit the burner.
When the temperature of the water had gone up by 12.8 °C, he found that
0.100 g of propan-1-ol had been burnt.

(i) Calculate the energy, in kJ, produced by burning 0.100 g of propan-

1-ol. The specific heat capacity of water is 4.18 J g –1 K–1.

energy = ................ kJ
[2]

(ii) Calculate the number of moles of propan-1-ol in 0.100 g.

Paddington Academy 7
 number of moles = ................
[2]

Paddington Academy 8
 (iii) Calculate the enthalpy change of combustion, in kJ mol –1, of propan-
1-ol.

enthalpy change .................. kJ mol–1

[1]

(d) The student looked in a text book and found that the actual value for the
standard enthalpy change of combustion of propan-1-ol was more
exothermic than the experimental value.

Suggest two reasons for the difference between this value and the one he
obtained experimentally.

1 ....................................................................................................................
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2 ....................................................................................................................
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[2]
[Total 11 marks]

Paddington Academy 9
5. Enthalpy changes of combustion can be used to determine enthalpy changes of
formation.

(i) Write the equation for the standard enthalpy change of formation of
butane, C4H10. Include state symbols in your answer.

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[2]

(ii) Use the following data to calculate the standard enthalpy change of
formation of butane.

standard enthalpy change of combustion / kJ

mol–1

carbon –394

hydroge
–286
n

butane –2877

answer .............................. kJ mol–1

[3]
[Total 5 marks]

Paddington Academy 10
6. Methane can be reacted with steam to produce carbon monoxide and
hydrogen. The equation for this process is given below.

CH4(g)  H2O(g)  CO(g)  3H2(g)

The table below shows the enthalpy changes of formation for methane, steam
and carbon monoxide.

compound Hf / kJ mol–1

CH4 –75

H2O –242

CO –110

(a) Define the term enthalpy change of formation.

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[2]

(b) Write the equation, including state symbols, representing the enthalpy
change of formation for methane, CH4.

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[2]

(c) Use the Hf values in the table to calculate the enthalpy change for the
reaction shown in the equation shown above.

.................. kJ mol–1
[3]

(d) State one important manufacturing process in which hydrogen is used.

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[1]
[Total 8 marks]

Paddington Academy 11
Paddington Academy 12
7. The changes in energy during reactions are often considered using enthalpy
changes of reaction. One such enthalpy change is the standard enthalpy
change of formation.

(i) Define the term standard enthalpy change of formation.

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[3]

(ii) Write the equation for the reaction corresponding to the standard enthalpy
change of formation of magnesium nitrate, Mg(NO 3)2. Include state
symbols.

[2]

(iii) When magnesium nitrate is heated, it decomposes to give magnesium

oxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxygen.

Use the standard enthalpy changes of formation to find the enthalpy

change of reaction for this decomposition.

substance standard enthalpy change of

formation
/ kJ mol−1

Mg(NO3)2 –791

MgO –602

NO2 –33

The equation for this reaction is shown below.

1
Mg(NO3)2(s)  MgO(s)  2NO2(g)  2 O2(g)

enthalpy change = ..........................................kJ mol −1

[3]
[Total 8 marks]

Paddington Academy 13
Paddington Academy 14