Final answer:
According to Hess's law, the ΔH for a reaction will equal the sum of the enthalpy changes for the individual steps. The enthalpy change of a reaction is not affected by the path taken from start to finish.
Step-by-step explanation:
Hess's law states that if a process can be written as the sum of several stepwise processes, the enthalpy change of the total process equals the sum of the enthalpy changes of the individual steps. This means that if a reaction is carried out in a series of steps, the ΔH for the reaction will equal the sum of the enthalpy changes for the individual steps.
The enthalpy change of a reaction depends on the physical states of the reactants and products, but it is not affected by the path taken from start to finish. It is used to calculate the overall change in enthalpy in a chemical reaction by combining known enthalpy changes of simpler reactions. It enables the determination of the enthalpy change for a complex reaction without directly measuring it, facilitating thermodynamic analysis and prediction of reaction feasibility.