Final answer:
Endothermic processes absorb heat (e.g., melting ice), while exothermic processes release heat (e.g., burning gasoline). Both can be modeled by a system box with arrows showing heat flow direction.
Step-by-step explanation:
An endothermic process is one where the system absorbs heat from its surroundings. Conversely, an exothermic process is one where the system releases heat to its surroundings. Let's look at two examples:
- A melting ice cube is an endothermic process. The system is the ice cube, and the surroundings are the air and the surface on which the ice cube is placed. As the ice cube melts, it absorbs heat from its surroundings, causing the surroundings' temperature to decrease slightly.
- The burning of gasoline is an exothermic process. Here, the system is the gasoline and oxygen reacting, and the surroundings include everything else around, such as the air and the container that holds the gasoline. When gasoline burns, it releases heat and often light to its surroundings, increasing the surroundings' temperature.
To visually model these, draw a box to represent the system, with arrows indicating heat flow. For the endothermic process, arrows point inward (towards the ice cube), and for the exothermic process, arrows point outward (away from the gasoline).