Chemistry / Unit 4 Chem 0636 short lesson, about 20 seconds
System and Surroundings
Captions available
The idea
The system is the matter undergoing a studied change; the surroundings are everything else able to exchange heat with it.
In practice
In a calorimetry experiment, the reacting substances are the system, while the surrounding solution and calorimeter body count as the surroundings.
Where people slip
The system/surroundings boundary is a choice the observer draws for the analysis, not a physical wall built into the apparatus.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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