Year 10 - Science
Reaction profiles
Energy changes in reactions
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit covers bulk material properties related to bonding and intermolecular forces and explores bond breaking, bond making, activation energy, and reaction profiles. It focuses on selecting appropriate techniques, translating data, and presenting observations using various models.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to draw, label and interpret reaction profiles for exothermic and endothermic reactions, and understand the changes these cause in the surroundings.
Key Notes
- A reaction profile compares the amount of energy the products of a reaction have compared to the reactants.
- Exothermic chemical reactions transfer energy from reactants to the surroundings causing an increase in temperature.
- Endothermic chemical reactions transfer energy from the surroundings to the products causing a decrease in temperature.
- Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy transferred to reactants that allows a chemical reaction to start.
Vocabulary To Learn
- exothermic: An exothermic chemical reaction is a type of reaction in which energy is transferred from the reactants to the surroundings, e.g. combustion.
- endothermic: An endothermic chemical reaction is a type of reaction in which energy is transferred from the surroundings to the products, e.g. photosynthesis.
- activation energy: The minimum energy that the particles must have in order to react is known as the activation energy.
- reaction profile: A reaction profile is a diagram showing the energy changes during exothermic and endothermic reactions.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Pupils often confuse energy with temperature and therefore expect the products to be higher than the reactants for exothermic reactions i.e. due to temperature increase, and lower for endothermic.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
A reaction profile compares the amount of energy the products of a reaction have compared to the reactants. Exothermic chemical reactions transfer energy from reactants to the surroundings causing an increase in temperature.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'exothermic'
An exothermic chemical reaction is a type of reaction in which energy is transferred from the reactants to the surroundings, e.g. combustion. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: Pupils often confuse energy with temperature and therefore expect the products to be higher than the reactants for exothermic reactions i.e. due to temperature increase, and lower for endothermic. Correction: It is useful to discuss the energy transfers occurring during the reaction e.g. exothermic reactions involve the reactant's chemical energy store converting to a smaller chemical energy store in the products and a thermal energy store.
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