Asked by qp

In reaction A, each sodium atom gives one electron to a chlorine atom. In reaction B, an isotope of oxygen decays to form an isotope of nitrogen. Which statement best describes the energy that is released per gram by these reactions?
Reaction A releases more energy than reaction B releases.
Reaction B releases more energy than reaction A releases.
Reaction A and reaction B release equal amounts of energy.
Neither reaction A nor reaction B releases energy.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Reaction B releases more energy than Reaction A.

Reason: Reaction A is a chemical process (electron transfer and ionic bond formation) — energy changes are on the order of electron volts per atom (10^–19 J/atom). Reaction B is a nuclear decay — energy changes are on the order of mega–electron volts per nucleus (10^–13 J/nucleus), i.e. millions of times larger. Per gram, nuclear reactions therefore release vastly more energy than chemical reactions.