Every day a certain amount of water evaporates from Earth’s oceans, lakes, and land surface and forms water vapor and clouds in the atmosphere. Every day a certain amount of rain falls back to Earth. Make the reasonable assumption that, on average, the energy absorbed by the evaporation and lifting of the water is equal to the energy released by its condensation and falling back to earth. The evaporation of one mole of water requires approximately 40.6×103 J of heat. An equal amount of heat is released when a mole of water condenses. The annual volume of rainfall on Earth is approximately 4.9×105 km3 and the average cloud altitude is 8.9 km above Earth’s surface. How much energy, in joules, is required every day to evaporate and lift the water?
Thermochemistry
Thermochemistry can be considered as a branch of thermodynamics that deals with the connections between warmth, work, and various types of energy, formed because of different synthetic and actual cycles. Thermochemistry describes the energy changes that occur as a result of reactions or chemical changes in a substance.
Exergonic Reaction
The term exergonic is derived from the Greek word in which ‘ergon’ means work and exergonic means ‘work outside’. Exergonic reactions releases work energy. Exergonic reactions are different from exothermic reactions, the one that releases only heat energy during the course of the reaction. So, exothermic reaction is one type of exergonic reaction. Exergonic reaction releases work energy in different forms like heat, light or sound. For example, a glow stick releases light making that an exergonic reaction and not an exothermic reaction since no heat is released. Even endothermic reactions at very high temperature are exergonic.
Every day a certain amount of water evaporates from Earth’s oceans, lakes, and land surface and forms water vapor and clouds in the atmosphere. Every day a certain amount of rain falls back to Earth. Make the reasonable assumption that, on average, the energy absorbed by the evaporation and lifting of the water is equal to the energy released by its condensation and falling back to earth. The evaporation of one mole of water requires approximately 40.6×103 J of heat. An equal amount of heat is released when a mole of water condenses.
The annual volume of rainfall on Earth is approximately 4.9×105 km3 and the average cloud altitude is 8.9 km above Earth’s surface. How much energy, in joules, is required every day to evaporate and lift the water?
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