
Originally Posted by
Enkephalos
Chemical reactions/physical processes that are exothermic release energy as a mixture of different forms on energy: Light, heat, etc. For different reactions/under different conditions, the free energy can take different forms: light, thermal, sonic, electrical etc.
What are the factors that determine/influence what form the energy takes?
Can it be predicted with much accuracy or is empirical testing still the only way to find out?
I'm sure there must be some good links that explain this, but somehow the wording I was using for my search didn't find anything other than the usual explanation of what an exothermic reaction is and the forms that energy can take (but not why it takes one or another).