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This page deals with chemical transformations or reactions, and with the calculations of energy and work that can be extracted therefrom.

At the present the world's energy resources are mainly chemical and almost based on combustions. Energy is produced by burning oil, coal, natural gas and to some extent wood and bio-masses. Nuclear power, wind, water, solar are real alternatives, but they account nowadays for no more than pheraps 8% of the annual energy output.

Basically the first Law of Thermodynamics states that Energy cannot be created out of nothing, it also cannot be destroyed. All that is possible is to transform one kind of energy into another form.We experience in every-day life how energy is stored, released, transferred and used.

One of the great lessons learned by humans is that energy can usefully be converted into work, but up to a certain extent and under well determined rules. These rules are the subject of the science called thermodynamics, which teaches us how much thermal energy we can be extracted from a transformation or how efficiently we can transform it into useful work.

To start up with need to focus on some simple concepts, like heat, energy and work.As a second step we'll learn more about thermodynamic functions and how to use them. As a third step we'll examine directly with the aid of thermo-web data-base all the main parameter of a chemical reaction, including the amount of heat released or the useful work that can be extracted from it.


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