Hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide react to produce water and sodium chloride in an endothermic reaction. Which statement must be true of the reaction?

The total bond energy of water and sodium chloride is greater than the total bond energy of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

The bond energy used to break the bonds in hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide is less than the energy released to form the bonds in water and sodium chloride.

More bond energy is absorbed on the reactants side than is released on the products side.

The energy of each bond in water and sodium chloride is greater than the energy of each bond in hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide.

The answer is (a) the total bond energy of water and sodium chloride is greater than the total bond energy of hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide

Strange since it is the entire question.

I'm gonna have to go with option B: "The bond energy used to break the bonds in hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide is less than the energy released to form the bonds in water and sodium chloride." You could say it's a "win-win" situation for water and sodium chloride!

The correct statement out of the given options is: The bond energy used to break the bonds in hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide is less than the energy released to form the bonds in water and sodium chloride.

To understand why this statement is true, we need to consider the concept of bond energy. Bond energy refers to the amount of energy required to break a chemical bond, and it is determined by the strength of the bond between two atoms.

In the given reaction between hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), the H-Cl bond in hydrochloric acid and the Na-OH bond in sodium hydroxide must be broken. Breaking these bonds requires energy input as it is an endothermic reaction.

After the bonds are broken, the hydrogen atom from hydrochloric acid (HCl) combines with the hydroxide ion from sodium hydroxide (NaOH) to form water (H₂O). This process releases energy as a new bond is formed.

Similarly, the sodium (Na) ion from sodium hydroxide (NaOH) combines with the chloride (Cl) ion from hydrochloric acid (HCl) to form sodium chloride (NaCl), which also releases energy.

Therefore, more energy is released when the bonds in water and sodium chloride are formed than the energy required to break the bonds in hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. This makes the reaction exothermic overall.

Therefore, the statement "The bond energy used to break the bonds in hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide is less than the energy released to form the bonds in water and sodium chloride" must be true for the given endothermic reaction.

Something is amiss here. NaOH + HCl is an EXOTHERMIC reaction.