What Is A State Function In Chemistry?

What Is A State Function In Chemistry?What is a state function? Well, the answer to that depends on who you ask. Certainly not the biologist or philosopher and they would disagree, whilst the chemist would say 'probably not', but as we shall see later that is exactly what is going on in nature.So what is a state function chemistry? As a brief recap, a state function is when something starts out in a particular state then transforms into another state, but without changing the characteristics of the starting state.It seems like this is an awful lot of mumbo jumbo, with all these strange 'birds 'turtles 'cows' to add to a jumble of words that have a distinctly unwieldy feel about them, but you will find it easier to understand state functions in the context of biology and systems when you understand how these units work. Consider this analogy of a flower; it's true that the specific shape alone is unique, but the flower's petals are arranged in such a way that it can change its shape a t the tip of the petal by folding in the right way, without changing the shape of the flower. This is a state function in that the flower's petals can change shape without changing the original flower, but is it a state function in any other sense?If you think about it, plants can change shape to fix deficiencies in their leaves, or plants can undergo spurt growth in response to temperature. In the example above, the key point to notice is that a shape does not change, it is just transferred from one place to another place in a different state. For instance, if the shape is a pendulum, then there is nothing to suggest that it has gone 'up'down'left'right'. It just changes position.The rest of the answer comes from the fact that astate function is essentially a generalised transformation. Any real transformation on a physical system that takes place changes something in the system, whether it be energy mass, or any other variable. The end result of that change is generally referred t o as a state function.To give an example, take a leaf from the 'A' column. It is seen as being full of sugars and it turns over because of some external force. However, it is a more complex system than that. The shape of the leaf and the sugar content do not change from state to state, but an essential part of the leaf's working mechanisms do change as a result of the new force acting on it.So what is a state function in biology, or chemistry, or whatever? For instance, think about the relationship between a chicken and its gizzard. In the current state, the chicken is eating on demand, so the gizzard has been shaped to provide exactly the right filling for the mouth.But now that the gizzard has been shaped to fill the mouth (without changing the rest of the body), the chicken no longer needs the 'on demand' eating style that it had as a result of its current state. But it is still eating on demand, it is just eating on its own. That is what is a state function in biology, it is the ability of a biological system to adapt to changes and get what it needs from them.