Jacqueline Orjada

Chemistry
Mrs. Hilliard
15 February 2013
Rubber Bands and Thermodynamics
Rubber bands are nifty and hazardous; they can keep an apple fresh longer, create a slingshot,
and a self propelled vehicle. Energy, (the capacity to do work or produce heat) is in everything;
whether or not it is being used at that point in time it is still there. A static rubber band is full of
potential energy, this is inactive energy. When someone uses the potential energy it is then
converted to kinetic energy; and that is the kind that moves things. The amount of either type of
energy is relevant to where the object that contains the energy, or is using the energy, is or was
placed. The experiment was on the reactions that occur when a rubber band is stretched and
relaxed against the forehead of the researcher.
The objective was to observe an exothermic and an endothermic reaction occur between
the system and the surroundings. In the experiment there were two separate systems, the relaxed
rubber band position and the stretched rubber band position; the system is the portion of an
experiment where a reaction can occur. There was also the forehead of the researcher which was
the surroundings; this is everything except the space that is the system. An exothermic process is
when heat is expelled from the system to the surroundings, while an endothermic process is
when heat is absorbed into the system from the surroundings. It was observed that when the band
was stretched heat expelled from the band, making the stretched system an exothermic process. It
was also observed that when the band was relaxed once more, heat no longer expelled from the
band. This intake of the surroundings heat, instead of expulsion, was an endothermic process.

Orjada 2
The processes were caused by the molecular chains that made up the rubber band, and the
surrounding molecules that influence the band to retract when expanded. The molecular chains
became taut when the band was stretched, those chains hit the free molecules making those move
faster, thus producing heat. The expulsion of heat ceased when the band was retracted because
the molecular chains now gave way, when the free molecules hit them, therefore producing little
to no heat. From the observations it is now possible to determine the signs of enthalpy in each
system. Enthalpy is the heat content of a chemical system. Previous knowledge concludes that
the stretched system had a negative enthalpy, and the relaxed system had a positive enthalpy.
The energy in the relaxed system contained a low amount of potential energy because the
molecules did not have to work to retract the band. Although the energy in the stretched system
was also potential energy, it had a higher amount because the molecules were working to attempt
to retract the band; also the energy was higher because of an exchange. As the band was
expanded to its stretched position, kinetic energy was created. Then, once the band was static in
its position, the kinetic energy transferred back to potential energy. With the band remaining
expanded during the transfer it resulted in a higher amount of potential energy. According to the
First Law of Thermodynamics energy is never created nor destroyed, only changed; and this
exchange between potential and kinetic energy supports it.
It can be concluded from the stretching and the relaxing of a rubber band that there are
exothermic and endothermic processes occurring. The exothermic process, which had a negative
enthalpy, took place in the stretched system; this is also where the potential energy was high. The
endothermic process, where the enthalpy was positive, took place in the relaxed system; this is
where the enthalpy was positive. The experiment supported the First Law of Thermodynamics,
and knowledge was gained from the experience. All in all, the experiment was a success.