Hess's law of constant heat summation is a direct consequence of:
- Both the first and second laws together
- Energy being a path function
- The system being adiabatic
- Enthalpy being a state function
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Correct answer: D. Enthalpy being a state function
Hess's law states that the enthalpy change for a reaction depends only on the initial and final states, not on the route taken.
This is exactly the statement that enthalpy is a state function.
It lets us add and subtract thermochemical equations to obtain the enthalpy of reactions that are difficult to measure directly.