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Standard Enthalpy Of Formation

Easychemistry

The standard enthalpy of formation of liquid water is -285.8 kJ/mol and of water vapour is -241.8 kJ/mol. What is the enthalpy of vaporisation of water at standard conditions?

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About This Question

Subject
chemistry
Chapter
chemical thermodynamics
Topic
standard enthalpy of formation
Difficulty
Easy
Year
2025
Tags
enthalpy of vaporisationstandard enthalpy of formationHess's lawwater phase changeendothermic process

Solution

Correct Answer:

The enthalpy of vaporisation is the energy required to convert one mole of a liquid into its vapour state at constant pressure. It can be calculated from standard enthalpies of formation using: (\Delta_{vap}H^\circ = \Delta_f H^\circ(H_2O, g) - \Delta_f H^\circ(H_2O, l)). This is a direct application of Hess's Law, since enthalpy is a state function. Substituting the given values: (\Delta_{vap}H^\circ = (-241.8) - (-285.8) = -241.8 + 285.8 = +44.0) kJ/mol. The positive sign confirms that vaporisation is an endothermic process — energy must be supplied to overcome intermolecular hydrogen bonds in liquid water. Option -44.0 kJ/mol is the enthalpy of condensation (the reverse process), not vaporisation. Option 527.6 kJ/mol incorrectly sums the absolute values of both enthalpies of formation. Option 22.0 kJ/mol would be the correct answer if only 0.5 mol of water vaporised. This is a standard NCERT thermochemical calculation and is frequently tested in JEE Main. Plausibility check: the known enthalpy of vaporisation of water at 298 K is approximately 44 kJ/mol, consistent with the strong hydrogen bonding in liquid water, confirming both sign and magnitude are correct.

This easy difficulty chemistry question is from the chapter chemical thermodynamics, covering the topic of standard enthalpy of formation. It appeared in the 2025 exam.

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