What is Gibbs free energy?

A. The energy lost as heat to the surrounding molecules
B. The usable energy released or absorbed by a reaction
C. The energy in the form of kinetic energy in a system
D. The energy contained within the bonds of molecules

ENTROPY. Heat, system, temperature, magic.

I knew that. It doesn't match any of the answers

The correct answer is B. Gibbs free energy is the usable energy released or absorbed by a reaction. To understand Gibbs free energy, we need to consider the concept of thermodynamics.

Thermodynamics is the study of energy transformations, and it helps us understand how energy flows in a system. One of the central principles of thermodynamics is the concept of Gibbs free energy.

Gibbs free energy (G) is a measure of the energy available to do useful work in a chemical or physical process. It takes into account both the enthalpy (H) and the entropy (S) of the system. Enthalpy is the total heat content of a system, while entropy is a measure of disorder in a system.

The Gibbs free energy equation is defined as follows:
G = H - TS

In this equation, G represents the Gibbs free energy, H represents the enthalpy, T represents the temperature, and S represents the entropy.

If the value of G is negative, it means that the reaction releases energy and is spontaneous. This indicates that the reaction can proceed on its own without any external influence. On the other hand, if the value of G is positive, it means that the reaction absorbs energy and is non-spontaneous. In this case, the reaction needs an input of energy to occur.

So, to summarize, Gibbs free energy is the measure of usable energy released or absorbed by a reaction, taking into account both the enthalpy and entropy of the system.