Exothermic Reaction - Key Points

Key Points

• The concept and its opposite number endothermic relate to the enthalpy change in any process, not just chemical reactions.
• In endergonic reactions and exergonic reactions it is the sign of the Gibbs free energy that determines the equilibrium point, and not enthalpy. The related concepts endergonic and exergonic apply to all physical processes.
• The conceptually related endotherm and exotherm are concepts in animal physiology.
• In quantum numbers, when any excited energy level goes down to its original level for example: when n=4 fall to n=2, energy is released so, it is exothermic.
• Where an exothermic reaction causes heating of the reaction vessel which is not controlled, the rate of reaction can increase, in turn causing heat to be evolved even more quickly . This positive feedback situation is known as thermal runaway. An explosion can also result from the problem.