The Nature of Energy A. Energy is the capacity to do work or to produce heat. Energy can be converted from one form to another but neither created nor destroyed. Potential energy is energy due to position or composition. Kinetic energy is energy due to motion and is equal to mass times velocity squared. B. Temperature is a property that reflects the random motions of the particles in a particular substance.
Heat involves the transfer of energy between two objects due to a temperature difference.
Work is defined as force acting over a distance. A state function is a function that is independent of the path. In other words, a state function depends only on the present state. In a chemical reaction, there is the system which is the part of the universe where the reaction is taking place and the surroundings are everything else. A reaction that is exothermic dumps energy into the surroundings while a reaction that is endothermic takes energy away from the surroundings.