Energy in Chemical Reactions — Role & Overview

Image of a burning campfire. — Image source: By Lukas Riebling CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

There's nothing quite like sitting around a campfire late at night and watching the blinding sparks fly as you feel the heat in your bones. Where is the energy for that light and warmth coming from?

Choose one answer

Option A: A

Lighting a fire requires a spark. This light and heat is the constant energy of that spark, which just appears to grow into a full fire due to fuel and oxygen.

Option B: B

Fire occurs through an exothermic reaction, which means that it doesn't require any inputted energy, and creates energy by breaking up the bonds in the wood.

Option C: C

A spark is necessary for the activation energy to be overcome, but after that, the reaction releases energy by creating new bonds between the carbon in the wood and the oxygen in the air.

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