Is rusting iron endothermic or exothermic?

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asked Nov 17, 2023 in Science by Kevetia (2,120 points)
Is rusting iron endothermic or exothermic?

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answered Jan 18 by Jacracksmeup (2,820 points)
Rusting iron is exothermic which means it releases heat during the rusting process.

Although the heat during rusting iron is released really slow so it's not really noticeable.

When the iron reacts with oxygen in the air to form rust which is iron oxide, the chemical bonds formed in the rust molecule are more stable than the bonds in the individual iron and oxygen atoms.

This results in a net release of energy in the form of heat.

The temperature and energy changes in an endothermic reaction because the reaction absorbs the energy from it's surroundings.

This means that the energy of the system increases while the energy of the surroundings decreases and essentially the reaction takes in heat and causes a drop in the temperature.

Exothermic and endothermic reactions compare in that endothermic reactions take in heat and exothermic reactions give off heat.

In an exothermic reaction, the surrounding temperature increases and in an endothermic reaction, the surrounding temperature decreases.

The reason why temperature decreases in endothermic reactions is because the endothermic reaction absorbs heat energy from it's surroundings.

The surrounding environment loses thermal energy and causes a drop in temperature and essentially the reaction draws heat in from it's surroundings to proceed and makes the are around it cooler.

Endothermic is cold as it absorbs heat from it's surroundings and makes the area around it feel cooler.

Exothermic reactions which are the opposite of endothermic feel hot by releasing heat.

Endothermic reactions take in heat energy from the environment and when an endothermic reaction occurs, the surrounding temperature decreases.

Cooking an egg or other food is an example of an endothermic process.

Cooking an egg is endothermic because when you cook an egg it absorbs the heat from it's surroundings like boiling water or heat from a pan to cook the egg.

This means that the heat energy is taken in to denature the proteins that are in the egg and cause the liquid to solidify into a cooked state.

Essentially the egg is taking in the heat to change it's structure.

The primary chemical change when cooking an egg is the denaturation of the eggs proteins.

This involves breaking the bonds that hold the eggs protein molecules in their original shape and the process requires heat energy to be absorbed from the environment.

As the egg cooks, the egg then draws heat from the pan or the water that it is in and causes the temperature of the cooking medium to decrease slightly.

And unlike an exothermic reaction, the cooking process of an egg does not release any significant heat back into the environment.

Endothermic chemical reactions are those in which the reactants take in heat energy from their environment to create products.

The process of boiling water is also endothermic because heat must be applied in order for the water to boil.

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