What is a characteristic of exergonic reactions?

Exergonic reactions are characterized by the release of free energy. This means that during these reactions, the energy of the products is lower than that of the reactants, resulting in a net release of energy into the surrounding environment. This release of energy is often harnessed by biological systems to perform work, such as driving metabolic processes.

In contrast, reactions that require energy input or absorb energy to proceed, those would not be considered exergonic. Furthermore, the other characteristics mentioned, such as being endothermic or solely requiring activation energy, do not accurately capture the essence of exergonic reactions, which fundamentally focus on the release of energy.