Does traditional film development – converting silver halide into metallic silver – produce heat, or rob heat?
I know, funny question – and the answer, one way or the other, probably has no practical significance to my darkroom work, or anyone else’s. (And my apologies in advance if anyone just suffered an unpleasant flashback to high school chemistry class – like I just did.
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But as a frequent tray developer, I’m simply curious…
I think the question occurred to me because I’m always thinking about better ways to sustain a desired temperature during the development step – such as taking into account air temperature, contact with the fingers, temperature of the surface under the tray, etc.
Any chemists out there w/ a quick answer in layman’s terms why “exothermic” or “endothermic” – or “neither” – is the answer? Does the emulsion type or choice of developer make a difference? Might this actually become a “measurable” issue if one tray-develops several film sheets in a relatively small amount of solution?
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