Chemistry
Thermodynamics
DCS
High School Science: Chemistry
Unit 10: Thermodynamics
Big Picture Graphic
Overarching Question:
How is energy stored in and transferred between substances?
Previous Unit:
This Unit:
Reaction Kinetics
Next Unit:
Biology – Unit 1
Thermodynamics
Questions to Focus Assessment and Instruction:
Intellectual Processes:
1. How do we make use of the potential energy stored in
chemical bonds?
2. Why are some chemical reactions endothermic while others
are exothermic?
3. How do exothermic and endothermic energy changes within
systems affect the surroundings of the system?
4. How do spontaneous reactions differ from non-spontaneous or
conditionally-spontaneous reactions?
Analyzing
Comparing
Describing
Explaining
The Oakland Schools Curriculum
scope.oakland.k12.mi.us
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March 23, 2010
Chemistry
Thermodynamics
DCS
Unit Abstract
This unit introduces students to the energy transfer that accompanies physical and chemical
changes. An inquiry station lab introduces students to heat capacity, thermal conductivity, heat of
solution, and heat of fusion. Students observe the energy changes as solids are dissolved in water,
ice melts, chemical reactions occur, and heat is transferred from one substance to another.
Classroom discussions of familiar phenomena help students identify exothermic and endothermic
changes. The unit continues with an investigation related to specific heat capacity. Students collect
data that help them identify the composition of an unknown metal based upon its specific heat
capacity. The unit continues with a study of the energy changes associated with changes of state.
Students experimentally determine the heat of fusion of water and learn to calculate the energy
change associated with changes of state from solid to liquid to gas. In addition, students
experimentally determine a heating curve for water describing the meaning of the changes in slope
in the graph. Classroom discussions help students understand the entropy changes associated
with changes of state. Students then experimentally determine the heat of a reaction and/or the
heat of solution for a solid. During classroom discussions, students relate the experiment to Hess’s
Law and begin to calculate the heat of reaction using Hess’s Law. The unit concludes with a study
of reaction spontaneity as it relates to free energy. Students learn to use the signs of a reaction’s
enthalpy change and entropy change to predict whether or not the reaction is spontaneous.
Content Expectations
Students will:
 generate new questions that can be investigated in the laboratory or field (C1.1A).
 conduct scientific investigations using appropriate tools and techniques (e.g., selecting an
instrument that measures the desired quantity—length, volume, weight, time interval,
temperature—with the appropriate level of precision) (C1.1C).
 describe a reason for a given conclusion using evidence from an investigation (C1.1E).
 predict what would happen if the variables, methods, or timing of an investigation were
changed (C1.1f).
 design and conduct a systematic scientific investigation that tests a hypothesis. Draw
conclusions from data presented in charts or tables (C1.1h).
 evaluate scientific explanations in a peer review process or discussion format (C1.2D).
 critique solutions to problems, given criteria and scientific constraints (C1.2f).
 identify scientific tradeoffs in design decisions and choose among alternative solutions (C1.2g).
 describe the distinctions between scientific theories, laws, hypotheses, and observations
(C1.2h).
 apply science principles or scientific data to anticipate effects of technological design decisions
(C1.2j).
 explain the changes in potential energy (due to electrostatic interactions) as a chemical bond
forms and use this to explain why bond breaking always requires energy (C2.1a).
 describe energy changes associated with chemical reactions in terms of bonds broken and
formed (including intermolecular forces) (C2.1b).
 compare the entropy of solids, liquids, and gases (C2.2e).
 compare the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a metal object and a wood object at
room temperature (C2.2f).
 calculate the ΔH for a given reaction using Hess’s Law (C3.1a).
 draw enthalpy diagrams for exothermic and endothermic reactions (C3.1b).
 calculate the ΔH for a chemical reaction using simple coffee cup calorimetry (C3.1c).
The Oakland Schools Curriculum
scope.oakland.k12.mi.us
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March 23, 2010
Chemistry
Thermodynamics
 calculate the
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DCS
amount of heat produced for a given mass of reactant from a balanced chemical
equation (C3.1d).
describe the energy changes in photosynthesis and in the combustion of sugar in terms of bond
breaking and bond making (C3.2a).
explain why it is necessary for a molecule to absorb energy in order to break a chemical bond
(C3.3c).
use the terms endothermic and exothermic correctly to describe chemical reactions in the
laboratory (C3.4A).
explain why chemical reactions will either release or absorb energy (C3.4B).
write chemical equations including the heat term as a part of equation or using ΔH notation
(C3.4c).
draw enthalpy diagrams for reactants and products in endothermic and exothermic reactions
(C3.4d).
predict if a chemical reaction is spontaneous given the enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS)
changes for the reaction using Gibb’s Free Energy, ΔG = ΔH - TΔS (Note: mathematical
computation of ΔG is not required.) (C3.4e).
explain why some endothermic reactions are spontaneous at room temperature (C3.4f).
compare the energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of aluminum and one gram
of water the same number of degrees (C5.4A).
measure, plot, and interpret the graph of the temperature versus time of an ice-water mixture,
under slow heating, through melting and boiling (C5.4B).
Key Concepts
endothermic reaction
enthalpy
entropy
exothermic reaction
free energy
Hess’s Law
specific heat capacity
spontaneous change
Duration: 3 Weeks
The Oakland Schools Curriculum
scope.oakland.k12.mi.us
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March 23, 2010