Q1: The net heat evolved or absorbed in a chemical process, i.e. total change in the enthalpy of the system is independent of the

ANS:B - number of intermediate chemical reactions involved.

When considering the number of intermediate chemical reactions involved in a process, we're essentially examining the pathway by which reactants are transformed into products. Sometimes, a chemical reaction doesn't proceed directly from reactants to products in one step; instead, it may involve multiple intermediate steps. Let's illustrate this with an example: Consider the combustion of methane (𝐶𝐻4CH4​) to form carbon dioxide (𝐶𝑂2CO2​) and water (𝐻2𝑂H2​O): 𝐶𝐻4(𝑔)+2𝑂2(𝑔)→𝐶𝑂2(𝑔)+2𝐻2𝑂(𝑔)CH4​(g)+2O2​(g)→CO2​(g)+2H2​O(g) This reaction proceeds directly from reactants (methane and oxygen) to products (carbon dioxide and water). However, this isn't always the case. In reality, the combustion of methane involves several intermediate steps. For example, the first step might be the formation of a methyl radical (𝐶𝐻3CH3​) from methane (𝐶𝐻4CH4​): 𝐶𝐻4(𝑔)→𝐶𝐻3(𝑔)+𝐻(𝑔)CH4​(g)→CH3​(g)+H(g) Then, the methyl radical (𝐶𝐻3CH3​) might react with an oxygen molecule (𝑂2O2​) to form formaldehyde (𝐻2𝐶𝑂H2​CO): 𝐶𝐻3(𝑔)+𝑂2(𝑔)→𝐻2𝐶𝑂(𝑔)+𝐻(𝑔)CH3​(g)+O2​(g)→H2​CO(g)+H(g) Finally, formaldehyde (𝐻2𝐶𝑂H2​CO) may further react with oxygen (𝑂2O2​) to form carbon dioxide (𝐶𝑂2CO2​) and water (𝐻2𝑂H2​O): 𝐻2𝐶𝑂(𝑔)+𝑂2(𝑔)→𝐶𝑂2(𝑔)+𝐻2𝑂(𝑔)H2​CO(g)+O2​(g)→CO2​(g)+H2​O(g) Overall, these three steps represent the entire process of methane combustion. Each of these steps is considered an intermediate chemical reaction. The overall enthalpy change for the combustion of methane is the sum of the enthalpy changes for each of these individual steps. Understanding the number of intermediate reactions involved is crucial in certain contexts, such as understanding reaction mechanisms, kinetic studies, and determining the overall enthalpy change of a complex chemical process.