Question

What does exothermic mean?

Answer 1

See Below.

Explanation:

What is the meaning of Exothermic?

Exo means giving out, and themic means heat-related.

So, Exothermic means something that gives out or liberates heat.

Here, We are dealing with Chemistry, Right?

So, Exothermic Change is a Change where heat is released or liberated.

I said change, as it can be physical or chemical change.

As Example,

Physical Exothermic Change :- Dissolving `NaOH` in distilled

water. If you observe correctly, you will see that after `NaOH` is

fully dissolved, the solution will become warmer than before.

`NaOH(s) rarr^(H_2O) = Na^+(aq) + OH^-(aq) + "Heat"`

Chemical Exothermic Change :- Very common example of this

is Combustion.

If you burn coal in the presence of Air, it forms `CO_2` with

liberation of heat, which continues the reaction.

`C + O_2 = CO_2 + "Heat"` [Where `+ " Heat"` means heat is

liberated.]

You can know more about Exothermic Changes, here. This is a really fantastic article. I recommend it.

Hope this helps.