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Exothermic

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

  • 196 Accesses

Definition

The term exothermic refers to a reaction or a physical transformation which releases energy if it takes place at constant volume or which releases enthalpy if it takes place at constant pressure. A familiar exothermic reaction is the combustion of coal. The enthalpy change (ΔH) during an exothermic reaction or transformation taking place at constant pressure is negative by definition. The enthalpy release takes the form of a heat release.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

    Jacques Reisse

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  1. Jacques Reisse
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Correspondence to Jacques Reisse .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Reisse, J. (2014). Exothermic. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_556-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_556-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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