chemical energy

/ˌkɛməkəl ˌɛnərdʒi/

Other forms: chemical energies

In chemistry, a substance's potential to transform into other substances is its chemical energy. A battery stores chemical energy that is capable of changing into electricity.

The bonds between atoms and molecules store chemical energy, which in turn holds those atoms together. When those bonds are broken, the chemical energy is released, and a chemical reaction occurs. There are countless examples of these reactions all around you, from your body digesting food to bread growing as it bakes in an oven to a candle flame being lit by a match. In each situation, the chemical energy existed before the reaction occurred.

Definitions of chemical energy

1. noun

   that part of the energy in a substance that can be released by a chemical reaction
   type of:

   energy, free energy

   (physics) a thermodynamic quantity equivalent to the capacity of a physical system to do work; the units of energy are joules or ergs