Thermodynamics unit test
A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.
Standard enthalpy of formation
Endothermic vs exothermic
System vs surroundings
Temperature dependence of ΔG
ΔH°rxn from formation enthalpies
Calorimetry
Hess's Law
Why entropy of the universe matters
State function
Enthalpy of reaction from bond energies
Coffee-cup calorimetry assumptions
Gibbs free energy
Short answer 1. Define or explain: Predicting the sign of ΔS
3 ptsShort answer 2. Define or explain: Entropy
3 ptsShort answer 3. Define or explain: Thermodynamic vs kinetic favourability
3 ptsShort answer 4. Define or explain: Heat capacity and q = mcΔT
3 ptsFree response
10 ptsThis course has no free-response prompt tagged to this unit, so one from elsewhere in the course is used. It is still worth writing — the skill transfers.
A student measures initial-rate data at constant temperature for the decomposition 2 N₂O₅(g) → 4 NO₂(g) + O₂(g). Trial 1: [N₂O₅] = 0.010 M, rate = 4.8 × 10⁻⁶ M/s Trial 2: [N₂O₅] = 0.020 M, rate = 9.6 × 10⁻⁶ M/s The reaction has an activation energy of 103 kJ/mol.
Determine the order of the reaction with respect to N₂O₅, and write the rate law.
Calculate the rate constant k, including units.
Describe the reaction-energy diagram for this reaction, identifying what must be labeled on it.
Explain the effect of adding a catalyst on the activation energy and on the rate.