To Investigate the Combustion of Fuels

The first 200 words of this essay...

To Investigate the Combustion of Fuels

Plan

A fuel is a substance from which energy can be obtained, usually by combustion. I have chosen to use four different alcohols as fuel - methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol. We can measure how much energy is released by putting the burning fuel under a beaker of water, and recording how much the temperature goes up by. Then the equation E = MC?T is used, where:

E = Energy Released

M = Mass of material heated

C = Specific heat capacity of the material. For water this is 4.2

?T = Temperature change

Method

For this investigation I will need:

Clamp

Stand

Metal dish

Conical flask

Bunsen burner

Thermometer

Measuring cylinder

Wooden splints

Scales

Water

Four spirit burners containing ethanol, methanol, propanol and butanol

I will set up this equipment as shown below.

First I will light the Bunsen burner, and make sure it is at least a metre away from the rest of my apparatus. Then I will measure out 100ml of water (which equals 100g) using the measuring cylinder,