On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 7:48 PM, H Veeder <hveeder...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 7:24 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> > wrote: > >> H Veeder <hveeder...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> >>> Photosynthesis is an endothermic reaction but instead of absorbing heat >>> energy it absorbs light energy. >>> I doubt a calorimeter would detect that. >>> >> >> The light source would have to be inside the calorimeter to affect the >> process, so yes, it would detect the energy from the light. All energy >> converts to heat. Unless the calorimeter was made of glass the light would >> not escape. (Some calorimeters are made of glass. Some have glass windows.) >> >> - Jed >> >> > > Ok so you can design a calorimeter to detect this particular endothermic > reaction, however, if you don't know a-priori what type of endothermic > reaction or what energy source is involved a "standard" calorimeter might > fail to detect it. > > Harry > > Another potential problem is that a calorimeter designed to detect an exothermic reaction might prevent an unknown endothermic reaction which is a prerequisite for the exothermic reaction. Harry
