When the products of a reaction have less energy than the reactants

the energy of the products is less than the energy of the reactants.

Explanation:

the the change is enthalpy is negative, and heat is released to the surroundings.

a. energy is absorbed in the reaction.

if in a given reaction the energy of products is greater than the energy of reactants it means that reaction is endothermic and during the reaction, the energy is absorbed by reactants. in an endothermic reaction, the products have more stored chemical energy than the reactants. and in this reaction the reactants are more stable than products before the compounds with less energy are always more stable.