Investigating the Efficiency of Fuels.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Investigating the Efficiency of Fuels

Introduction

I am going to investigate the efficiency of two fuels. I will carry out an investigation which will allow me to see which fuel is more efficient.

This is made easy because the fuels I am going to test each burn well through sprit burners. The fuels are reactive, and produce heat, therefore exothermic. You can tell this because when the fuels burn they produce heat, and when heat is produced from a reaction we call it an exothermic reaction.

Energy level diagram showing an Exothermic Reaction:

This shows an exothermic reaction because the products are at a lower energy level than the reactants. The difference in height represents the energy given out in the reaction. The EA is the activation energy, and this is the energy that is needed to break bonds. It is the initial rise in the energy given out in the reaction.

On this energy level diagram, Delta H is negative.

This is a table showing the energy required to make or break a covalent bond.

Bond

Energy kJ

C - H

412

O