Question

I'm trying to write a sentence like this:

Exothermic reactions have a negative enthalpy change value because the enthalpy of the reactants are greater than the enthalpy of the products since the reactants have weaker bonds....

Why do weaker bonds have higher energy/enthalpy?

I would first jump to the conclusion that high bond strength=high energy...

And I get that gases have a lot of energy, and they have really weak bonds so they're so spread out... But do weak bonds have high energy??

Answer 1

I'm basically trying to explain why, in exothermic reactions, enthalpy of the products are greater than the enthalpy of the reactants (resulting in a negative enthalpy change).

And I obviously don't know myself. Can someone please explain? I can't seem to find the answer anywhere else.

Originally, I actually had written that it was because "more energy is absorbed than is released". But I don't think that really explains why...