Questions to ponder in Chemistry 126. At this point
in the semester you should be able to discuss most of these questions with
friends and come up with reasonable answers.
- What’s
so special about a “Boltzmann distribution”?
- Why is
entropy important?
- Are
there situations where entropy is NOT important?
- What
picture do you have in your mind when you think about molecules exchanging
energy?
- What
picture do you have in your mind when you think about molecules reacting?
- When
energy goes “into a system” where is it? What is it?
- Why
are heat and temperature sometimes but not always related?
- Why
are temperature and internal energy sometimes but not always related?
- What’s
the difference between internal energy and enthalpy? How much of a
difference is there?
- What’s
the difference between “entropy” and “standard entropy”? Why is it
important to distinguish between the two?
- Why is
the crossing point of curves on a graph of G vs. T important?
- Why
isn’t there an equilibrium constant for melting/freezing?
- Why do
liquids evaporate at all temperatures? Why do they boil at one particular
temperature? How can you predict that temperature?
- How is
energy measured experimentally (in the lab)?
- What’s
the difference between a “reaction” and an “equation”?
- Why is
it critical to associate standard enthalpies of reaction and standard
entropies of reaction with specific chemical equations?
- How
are standard enthalpies of reaction and standard entropies of reaction
measured experimentally?
- What
do standard enthalpies and standard entropies for reactions tell us about
nature?
- In
what way is free energy “free”?
- What
room is there in this theory for the hand of God?