Exothermic and Endothermic Reactions in Everyday Life by Chloe Ford
Of all the topics we have studied so far, heat transfer is a concept that should be more widely known. It is the most prominent in everyday life and it was one of the most interesting topics for me this year. When people touch something that “feels cold” or “feels hot” it is actually a chemical reaction that is occurring between their hand and the object that “feels hot or cold.” The particles of the liquid are moving really fast and they bounce off of the cup’s particles which bounce off of the table particles of the table, producing an exothermic reaction, with the system being the cup of liquid. Most people have different ideas of what makes an object hot or cold. While someone may think that the water in their shower is too hot, some may find it the perfect temperature.
This has to do with the initial temperatures of what’s receiving/giving off heat and what the system of the reaction is. At the beginning of the year we learned the terms exothermic and endothermic and their definitions. Exothermic describes a heat release out of the system and endothermic means receiving heat into the system. The most important part of these definitions is arguably the “systems” because when asked if something is exothermic or endothermic, one needs to know what is giving off/receiving heat. For example, if there's a cup of hot chocolate on a table, with the system being the cup the reaction is exothermic because heat is leaving the cup and going to the table, but the reaction is endothermic for the table because it is receiving the heat from the cup. When people say things “feel hot or cold” it can often lead to disagreements and a misunderstanding about what is actually “hot” or “cold.” Technically, hot and cold are incorrect terms in this context because, again when something is hot or cold it depends on the initial temperature of the what’s receiving/giving off heat.
If the temperature of someone’s hand is higher than another persons and they touch the side of a cup with hot chocolate in it, they might not think it is “hot.” The person with the lower hand temperature might think it is “hot” because of the difference in temperature between their hand and the cup. Disagreements like these can lead to misunderstandings in the scientific community which is problematic, especially because of how common these disagreements are in everyday life. Another problem arises when someone defines something as “hot” or “cold.” When someone feels sick and asks someone to feel their forehead to see if they have a fever, that is very unreliable information. If someone’s hands have a higher temperature, they will obviously think that the person’s forehead is hot, therefore they have a fever. Whereas, if someone has a lower hand temperature and they feel the person’s forehead, they will think that they are fine and do not have a fever. This is problematic because dealing with sickness is a much more serious issue than feeling a cup of hot chocolate. Although not many people will decide of they are sick based on someone’s decision of the “hotness” of their forehead it is problematic to even think that this is a reliable way to decide if you have a fever.
This has to do with the initial temperatures of what’s receiving/giving off heat and what the system of the reaction is. At the beginning of the year we learned the terms exothermic and endothermic and their definitions. Exothermic describes a heat release out of the system and endothermic means receiving heat into the system. The most important part of these definitions is arguably the “systems” because when asked if something is exothermic or endothermic, one needs to know what is giving off/receiving heat. For example, if there's a cup of hot chocolate on a table, with the system being the cup the reaction is exothermic because heat is leaving the cup and going to the table, but the reaction is endothermic for the table because it is receiving the heat from the cup. When people say things “feel hot or cold” it can often lead to disagreements and a misunderstanding about what is actually “hot” or “cold.” Technically, hot and cold are incorrect terms in this context because, again when something is hot or cold it depends on the initial temperature of the what’s receiving/giving off heat.
If the temperature of someone’s hand is higher than another persons and they touch the side of a cup with hot chocolate in it, they might not think it is “hot.” The person with the lower hand temperature might think it is “hot” because of the difference in temperature between their hand and the cup. Disagreements like these can lead to misunderstandings in the scientific community which is problematic, especially because of how common these disagreements are in everyday life. Another problem arises when someone defines something as “hot” or “cold.” When someone feels sick and asks someone to feel their forehead to see if they have a fever, that is very unreliable information. If someone’s hands have a higher temperature, they will obviously think that the person’s forehead is hot, therefore they have a fever. Whereas, if someone has a lower hand temperature and they feel the person’s forehead, they will think that they are fine and do not have a fever. This is problematic because dealing with sickness is a much more serious issue than feeling a cup of hot chocolate. Although not many people will decide of they are sick based on someone’s decision of the “hotness” of their forehead it is problematic to even think that this is a reliable way to decide if you have a fever.
