From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Thu Aug 28 1997 - 23:59:47 MDT
Anders Sandberg wrote:
>
> I think there is some confusion here about binding energy etc (no
> wonder, I'm not 100% sure about the terminology myself). Just to
> get things straight: each molecule has an enthalpy, which is
> roughly its "chemical potential". If chemical A and B are transformed
> into chemicals C and D, the difference in total enthalpy tells
> us how much energy is needed to cause the reaction (if the
> difference is negative), or how much energy is released (if the
> difference is positive). These are absolute thermodynamic constraints,
> in addition energy might be needed to start the reaction, although
> this can be lowered using catalysts.
"Enthalpy, or heat content, is a thermodynamic quantity. It is equal to the
sum of the internal energy of a system plus the product of the pressure-volume
work done on the system." (Handbook of Chemistry and Physics 41st ed.)
--
sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/singularity.html
http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/algernon.html
Disclaimer: Unless otherwise specified, I'm not telling you
everything I think I know.
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