Where does energy come from? | 16-18 years

A photograph of ethanol burning with a blue, yellow and orange flame in a glass dish against a dark background

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Help students explore how energy is released in exothermic reactions and when chemical bonds form using this lesson plan with activities for 16–18 year olds.

In this activity, students reinforce their understanding of how energy is released when chemical bonds are formed. A diagnostic task probes their initial ideas, while a simple experiment shows how to measure an energy change that cannot be measured directly, introducing enthalpy change of combustion and Hess’s law.

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