Hess's law

proper noun

A relationship in physical chemistry stating that the total enthalpy change during the complete course of a reaction is the same whether the reaction is made in one step or in several steps.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

proper noun
  1. A relationship in physical chemistry stating that the total enthalpy change during the complete course of a reaction is the same whether the reaction is made in one step or in several steps.

Origin

Named after Swiss-Russian chemist Germain Henri Hess, who published it in 1840.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Hess's law. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hess's%20law

MLA

“Hess's law.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hess's%20law. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Hess's law,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Hess's%20law.

Source: Hess's law on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.