Question

In an exothermic reaction, the bonding energy of the product is:


less than the reactants
same as the reactants
greater than the reactants
dependent on the presence of a catalyst

Answer 1

Tricky. It depends on what you mean by "bonding energy." The energy of the products is of course lower than the energy of the reactants. That's why energy is released by the reaction. But on the other hand, when we speak of "bond energy" we usually mean the energy required to break the bonds, and since the products are lower in energy, it takes *more* energy to break all their bonds. Given the usual definition of "bond energy" I woudl probably go with "greater than the reactants" here.

Answer 2

yes, i supposed to be as carl-pham

Answer 3

Yes this was really tricky, but the answer was Less than reactants!!

Answer 4

Well, so it goes. This is YET ANOTHER question that was terribly worded, deeply ambiguous. I wish I could get on some kind of government committee that would threaten to take the degrees away from instructors who write questions like this. It's really appalling the slovenliness I often see in questions here. If I heard that kind of thing from a PhD candidate in an oral exam, I would -- I have in the past -- nailed that person to the wall for unforgivably sloppy thinking. Don't you -- the students -- push back a little about this? Complain, make noise? You should.

Answer 5

Well, this is a home school program Im on, and I totally agree.