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Question

State Hess's law of constant heat summation and explain it with an example.

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Solution

Hess's law of constant heat summation:
The law states that the change in enthalpy for a reaction is the same whether the reaction takes place in one or a series of steps. The Hess's law can also be stated as the enthalpy change for a chemical reaction is the same regardless of the path by which the reaction occurs.
For example, consider following two paths for the preparation of methylene chloride
Path I :
CH4(g)+2Cl2(g)CH2Cl2(g)+2HCl(g)ΔH01=202.3kJ
Path II :
CH4(g)+Cl2(g)CH3Cl(g)+HCl(g)ΔH02=98.3kJ
CH3Cl(g)+Cl2(g)CH2Cl2(g)+HCl(g)ΔH03=104.0kJ
Adding two steps
CH4(g)+2Cl2(g)CH2Cl2(g)+2HCl(g)ΔH0=202.3kJ
Thus whether we follow path I or path II, the enthalpy change of the reaction is same. ΔH01=ΔH02+ΔH03=202.3kJ

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