There are several methods of determining the values of reaction enthalpies, involving either measurements on the reaction of interest or calculations from data for related reactions. For reactions which go rapidly to completion, it is often possible to measure the heat of reaction directly using a
calorimeter. One large class of reactions for which such measurements are common is the
combustion of
organic compounds by reaction with molecular oxygen (O2) to form
carbon dioxide and water (H2O). The heat of combustion can be measured with a so-called
bomb calorimeter, in which the heat released by combustion at high temperature is lost to the surroundings as the system returns to its initial temperature. Since enthalpy is a
state function, its value is the same for any path between given initial and final states, so that the measured Δ
H is the same as if the temperature stayed constant during the combustion. For reactions which are incomplete, the
equilibrium constant can be determined as a function of temperature. The enthalpy of reaction is then found from the
van 't Hoff equation as \Delta_{\text {rxn}} H^\ominus = {RT^2}\frac{d}{dT} \ln K_\mathrm{eq}. A closely related technique is the use of an electroanalytical
voltaic cell, which can be used to measure the
Gibbs energy for certain reactions as a function of temperature, yielding K_\mathrm{eq}(T) and thereby \Delta_{\text {rxn}} H^\ominus . It is also possible to evaluate the enthalpy of one reaction from the enthalpies of a number of other reactions whose sum is the reaction of interest, and these not need be formation reactions. This method is based on
Hess's law, which states that the enthalpy change is the same for a chemical reaction which occurs as a single reaction or in several steps. If the enthalpies for each step can be measured, then their sum gives the enthalpy of the overall single reaction. Finally the reaction enthalpy may be estimated using
bond energies for the bonds which are broken and formed in the reaction of interest. This method is only approximate, however, because a reported bond energy is only an average value for different molecules with bonds between the same elements. ==References==