Two Roads, One Answer

Nobody has ever measured the enthalpy of C(graphite) + ½ O₂ → CO directly — burn carbon in limited oxygen and you always get a CO / CO₂ mixture. And yet the number is known to one decimal place. Enthalpy is a state function: it only knows where you started and where you finished. That single fact turns two reactions you can run into one you cannot.

8 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · ΔH IS A STATE FUNCTION · UNIT 6 FLAGSHIP · v1