Chemical energy

Content

• Examples of chemical energy
• Can serve you
• Other types of energy

The chemical energy It is the one that originates in the different chemical reactions to which matter is susceptible, that is, that contained in the different forms of bonding between the atoms or resulting from their breaking.

Chemical energy is used on a daily basis in various areas of our lives in which different take place chemical reactions. It is often said that this form of energy is contained in bodies, and for that same reason it will become evident only when they are subjected to some important alteration in their matter.

In fact, all forms of fuel contain, in the end, a chemical energy that can be translated into a quantity of hot, violence or certain work. And in that sense, any source of chemical energy transforms the matter in which it was contained.

See also: Examples of Energy in Everyday Life

Examples of chemical energy

1. Photosynthesis. Plants obtain their energy from the chemical reaction that takes place inside them, between sunlight, CO₂, water and various enzymes and organic substances that obtain energy and oxygen from it. This energy product of a chemical reaction is contained in the molecules of the participating substances and is released by the plant for its benefit and vital maintenance.
2. The breathing. Similar to the previous case is that of animals, which instead of using sunlight, CO₂ and water, require oxygen and glucose to release water, CO₂ and obtain energy, essential to keep the cycle going. This process is what keeps us alive and that we share with the whole animal Kingdom and part of the others.
3. The combustion. When we start a motor vehicle, such as a car, gasoline, or hydrocarbon that it uses as fuel is subjected to a cycle of controlled ignitions and detonations that generates the energy that, in turn, allows movement. This fuel contains this energy in the atoms of carbon and hydrogen that compose it and that, when broken, are transformed into other compounds and release energy.
4. The descomposition. Fungi and bacteria that feed on organic matter in decomposition, they can obtain the energy necessary for their processes from fermentation of sugars and starches, obtaining alcohols or other products as a result of the process that breaks the molecules of organic matter. Something similar to what happens in our stomach, where acids break the molecular bonds of the food generating calories.
5. Space travel. The fuels used by ships that traveled to the moon or sent satellites into space are not ordinary, like those consumed by an internal combustion engine. Rather, they are the result of highly complex chemical reactions whose release of energy is so great that it can counteract the law of gravity on an object the magnitude of a rocket long enough to leave the atmosphere.
6. Corrosion. Many of the chemicals that we deal with in our daily lives, such as drain cleaners and others that contain acids or bases extreme, they are corrosive materials, capable of wearing down the surface with which they come in contact, in a process that releases heat and consumes all organic matter. Many corrosive burns are caused by the heat that dissolution of lipids of the skin they produce, rather than the effect of the substance itself.
7. Exothermic reactions. Many substances, such as caustic soda, are so drying that, when they come into contact with water, they react exothermically, that is, releasing heat. These reactions, which are not unique to strong bases, release energy into the environment and can be dangerous to humans. living beings around.
8. Explosions. It is a classic cartoon to spill TNT on the ground and explode it accidentally. Although this is not exactly the case, there are chemically very unstable substances that, when they come into contact with oxygen in the air, react by releasing sudden and large amounts of caloric and kinetic energy, which is what we normally call explosion.
9. The nuclear energy. Although it constitutes a whole branch of its own, to a certain extent the energy released in a nuclear power plant (and later converted into electricity) or in an atomic bomb, are examples of chemical energy, insofar as their origin is in the chain reactions provoked by the man from certain elements treated in the laboratory, such as Uranium or Hydrogen, and that when forced through chemical reactions to fission or fuse their atoms, respectively, release gigantic amounts of energy into the environment.
10. Batteries and batteries. The batteries that we use so much (remote controls, cars, cell phones) contain various acids and metals in controlled reaction, the immediate result of which is a usable amount of electricity. When the batteries expire, that electricity is lost and the batteries must be replaced.

Can serve you

• Examples of Chemistry in Everyday Life
• Examples of Renewable and Non-Renewable Energies
• Examples of Energy Transformation

Other types of energy