more other molecules than a small water
molecule can.
Energy
Energy Causes Change
The paragraphs directly above describe
various bonds as “weak” and “strong,” easily
or not so easily formed and broken. The idea
of bond strength is useful because most
cooking is a matter of the systematic breaking
of certain chemical bonds and the formation
of others. The key to the behavior of chemical
bonds is energy. The word is a Greek
compound of “in” and “force” or “activity,”
and now has as its standard definition “the
capacity for doing work,” or “the exertion of a
force across a distance.” Most simply, energy
is that property of physical systems that
makes possible change. A system with little
energy is largely unchanging. Conversely, the