Automotive antifreeze is typically a 50:50 mixture (by volume) of water and ethylene glycol. Discuss why this solution is useful for protecting automobile engines from both summer and winter temperature extremes.

A 50:50 mixture of ethylene glycol and water is effective both summer and winter extremes in temperature because of high boiling point of 106°C and low freezing point of about -37°C. In summer when the average daily temperature rises to about 22°c, the mixture will be effective in keeping the automobile engine cool. Also in winter, when the average temperature falls below 0°C, the mixture will be effective as an antifreeze as it remains a liquid well below 0°C.

Explanation:

Ethylene glycol or antifreeze is an organic compound which is used in automobile engines as a coolant and also as an anti-freezing agent, however it does not conduct heat effectively as water due to its lower heat capacity. It has a freezing point of -12.9°C and boiling point of 197.3°C.

Water is also used as a coolant in automobile engine but it has a limited range due to its boiling point of 100°C. It is also not a good anti-freezing agent due to it high freezing point of 0.°C

However, when ethylene glycol is mixed with water in a ratio of  50:50, the property of the mixture is enhanced to both serve as a coolant and as an antifreeze. The boiling point is elevated to about 106°C while its freezing point is lowered to about -37°C.

This temperature range is effective for both summer and winter temperatures. In summer when the average daily temperature rises to about 22°c, the mixture will be effective in keeping the the automobile engine cool. Also in winter, when the average temperature falls below 0°C, the mixture will be effective as an antifreeze as it remains a liquid well below 0°C.

a. energy is absorbed in the reaction.

if in a given reaction the energy of products is greater than the energy of reactants it means that reaction is endothermic and during the reaction, the energy is absorbed by reactants. in an endothermic reaction, the products have more stored chemical energy than the reactants. and in this reaction the reactants are more stable than products before the compounds with less energy are always more stable.