When wood is burned, energy is released in the forms of heat and light. Describe the reaction, and explain why this change does not violate the law of conservation of energy. Use the terms combustion, exothermic, and chemical energy.

Question

Chemistry

Ray Pena

17 September, 10:07

When wood is burned, energy is released in the forms of heat and light. Describe the reaction, and explain why this change does not violate the law of conservation of energy. Use the terms combustion, exothermic, and chemical energy.

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Beau Hinton · Answer 1

Burning wood is a form of spontaneous combustion, a type of chemical reaction occurring with chemical energy. It is exothermic, meaning it releases heat when it occurs. When wood is burned, carbon breaks down (which creates the crackling sound you hear) and creates a new material. Since the carbons are not being created and only rearranged, this does not violate the law of conservation of energy.

Skylar Hinton · Answer 2

The law of conservation of energy describes that energy can't be destoryed or created, they can only be conserved in different forms. When wood is burned, chemical energy stored inside of it is being released through combustion with oxygen. The reaction is exothermic. Energy being released are shown in the form of light and heat.