- #1
jbar18
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This at first may sound like a question based in chemistry, but I feel it is more of a particle physics question.
When a chemical reaction occurs, it can be exothermic or endothermic. It is my understanding that if bonds are formed, energy is released, and when bonds are broken, energy is used. The explanation that I heard was that when two atoms are bonded, they have less mass than if they were separate, and the extra mass is released as energy, according to E=mc^2.
But why are do they have less mass when they are bonded? Bonds are essentially just the sharing of electrons, right? (I know there can be ionic, metallic and covalent, but they are all based around the electrons) So what I'm having trouble getting my head around is, if you have a couple of atoms flying around, and then they happen to bond, why does that release energy? How can the transition from an electron moving to an electron staying 'still' release energy? And why do two atoms have less mass when they are joined than when they are separate? Heat is just radiation, right? So where is the radiation coming from when the electrons have stuck?
When a chemical reaction occurs, it can be exothermic or endothermic. It is my understanding that if bonds are formed, energy is released, and when bonds are broken, energy is used. The explanation that I heard was that when two atoms are bonded, they have less mass than if they were separate, and the extra mass is released as energy, according to E=mc^2.
But why are do they have less mass when they are bonded? Bonds are essentially just the sharing of electrons, right? (I know there can be ionic, metallic and covalent, but they are all based around the electrons) So what I'm having trouble getting my head around is, if you have a couple of atoms flying around, and then they happen to bond, why does that release energy? How can the transition from an electron moving to an electron staying 'still' release energy? And why do two atoms have less mass when they are joined than when they are separate? Heat is just radiation, right? So where is the radiation coming from when the electrons have stuck?
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