# Bonding energy in compounds

I have been researching on the bonding energies of different compounds, and for example, for CO2 it is 1600kJ/mole, 1600kJ/44g, or ~36.37kJ/g of energy required to split the carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen. Furthermore, I transformed the amount of energy required in kJ to degrees celsius, and got 845.2 Cº for splitting 44g (or 1 mole), or 19.15 Cº for splitting 1 gram of CO2. However, the latter figure, as you may have noticed, is clearly absurd, as you logically cannot split 1 gram of CO2 with such a relatively low temperature.

I clearly understand that I am following the wrong procedure, although it seems the logical one at first, until, of course you arrive at an unreasonable figure. How should I find the required temperature for splitting a certain quantity of a compound? Also, why is my procedure wrong, and what have I not understood correctly?

Finally, I have also considered using a set of ultracapacitors connected together as an option to splitting CO2, (already having considered the amount of ultracapacitors needed): for example, to achieve an energy of ~36.37kJ (to split 1 gram of CO2) I would need 20 ultracapacitors with (individually) a voltage of 2.7V and capacitance of 500 farads. Would it be possible to split CO2 using ultracapacitors, or is this procedure also wrong, and why?

Homework Helper
Gold Member
1600 kJ/mole is ## 1.6 \cdot 10^6 \,J/(6.02 \cdot 10^{23})= 2.7 \cdot 10^{-18} \, J/ ##molecule. This will only be approximate, but with ## k_B=1.38 \cdot 10^{-23} \, J/K ##, the temperature ## T \approx 2 \cdot 10^5 ## to separate the ## CO_2 ## molecule into atoms by thermal means. ## \\ ## And putting the molecule into a strong electric field, such as between capacitor plates is not likely to separate it into components. The ## CO_2## molecule is electrically neutral and only slightly polar. It would not be affected appreciably by the voltage from two capacitor plates.

Last edited:
However, if the CO2 was pressurized and turned into liquid, adding an electrolyte, would it be possible to split the CO2 into its components?

Edit: is the temperature (T): 2·105 the temperature required to split 1 molecule of CO2, in degrees kelvin? In addition, I now understand that your procedure is the correct one, but why exactly is my procedure wrong, (1600kJ/44g to get energy for 1 gram and then transform ~36.37kJ to celsius: 19.15 cº (which I know is wrong)), as it seems the most logical & proper one at first hand, and how to avoid these type of procedures on other concepts?

Last edited: