Chemistry preliminary question (1 Viewer)

[girlworld_club]

when atoms combine to form compounds, energy is released. Explain why this is so. However when nitrogen and oxygen gases combine to form nitric oxide, energy is absorbed. Present an explanation for this apparent anomaly.

My first reaction to this question, dafuq?

 

[girlworld_club]

bump

 

[Dan895]

It's a pretty silly question in my oppinion however, Its just like endothermic and exothermic reactions. Endothermic sucks in heat(energy) and Exothermic expells heat. I hope this helps. Also I've only done the Chemical Earth and Metals so there may be something I'm missing...

 

[tohriffic]

You know that when atoms form bonds, energy is released. Conversely, when bonds are broken, energy is absorbed. Thus when atoms combine to form compounds, energy is released because there are no bonds (assuming atoms refers to single lone atoms) being broken and only bonds being formed.

Nitrogen and oxygen are diatomic right? (Occur in two atoms joined together, O2, N2) And so, those bonds must be broken before forming the compound nitric oxide. I can only assume that the energy required for bonds in O2 and N2 to break exceeds the energy released when the bonds form between the nitrogen and the oxygen to form nitric oxide.