Question

The process of hydrolysis is:
A. always exothermic
B. always endothermic
C. either exothermic or endothermic
D. neither exothermic nor endothermic

Answer 1

Hint: Hydrolysis is a chemical process of decomposition where one of the reactants is water. Water is used to break chemical bonds in the other reactant. This process can be energy giving or energy taking.

Complete step by step answer:
Exothermic reaction is the reaction that releases energy, usually in the form of heat. In such reactions, energy is released because the total energy of the products is less than the total energy of the reactants.
Endothermic reaction is the reaction that requires external energy, usually in the form of heat, for the reaction to proceed. Since endothermic reactions absorb heat from their surroundings, they tend to cause their environments to cool down.
Here, say for example, if water ($$H_{2}O$$) is added into salt ($$NaCl$$)
After, dissociation, $$N{a}^{+}$$,$$C{l}^{-}$$, $$H^{+}$$and $$O{H}^{-}$$ions forms due to complete dissociation of the both water and salt.
$$NaCl+H_{2}O\to [N{a}^{+}C{l}^{-}{H}^{+}O{H}^{-}]\to NaOH+HCl$$
For the process of hydrolysis, if the stability of product is greater than stability of reactants the reaction will be exothermic whereas, if the stability of product is less than that of reactant the reaction is endothermic.
So, the hydrolysis process can be either endothermic or exothermic depending on the stability of reactants and products of the reaction.

So, the correct answer is Option C.

Additional Information:
Hydrolysis process also plays a vital role in digesting food. In the biochemical process of digestion, enzymes secreted by the digestive tract turn the complex molecules into forms by hydrolysis that the body organisms can absorb. Enzymes such as lipases, amylases, and proteinases catalyse the hydrolysis of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, respectively. Proteins are decomposed to amino acids, fats to fatty acids and glycerol, and starches and complex sugars to glucose and other simple sugars.

Note: : Students should not be confused about the process's hydrolysis and hydration. Hydrolysis is the chemical breakdown of a compound due to reaction with water whereas Hydration is the addition of water to ions or molecules. For example,
$CuS{o}_4+5H_{2}O\to CuS{o}_4.5H_{2}O$