Re: energy in the tank

[cliff parker <cparker@CHARTER.NET>]

I don't agree.  Where did the energy required to build the chemicals in
gasoline came from?  Ultimately can't it primarily be traced back to the
sun?  Didn't the chemical bonds "store" the radiant energy received from the
sun?  I hope so because otherwise I have been expressing myself more clearly
than I can think all day today and I certainly don't want that to happen.

Cliff Parker

Never express yourself more clearly than you can think.  Niels Bohr
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Barrer" <forcejb@YAHOO.COM>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 2:54 PM
Subject: energy in the tank


> I think we should be VERY careful about referring to
> energy stored in the gas tank. It reinforces the
> faulty notion on the part of many students that
> chemical bonds store energy. This is not true since
> energy is released as bonds form; energy must be added
> to a molecule to break bonds. The oxidation of
> gasoline takes us to a lower potential well and energy
> is released in the reaction, but it was not "stored"
> in the gasoline.
>
> I recently saw a paper which reported the results of
> conceptual testing of Purdue (I believe) undergrad
> science majors. A LARGE majority believed that
> chemical bonds store energy. We should studiously
> avoid reinforcing that misconception. Unless, of
> course, one feels that this is not a significant
> misconception. John Barrere
>
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