An Investigation into the Burning of Fuels

An Investigation into the Burning of Fuels A fuel is a resource that, when burned, can produce energy. The energy released can be measured by the fuel heating some water. Then the energy can be calculated using the following formula: E = MC?T Where E = energy released M = mass of material heated C = specific heat capacity ?T = temperature change The material burned will have to be weighed before and after it is burned to find the mass of material burned. For the fuel I will be using different alcohol, this is because it is a liquid (which makes it easier), an efficient fuel and can be used in a spirit burner. Diagram: Fair Test: Fix: amount of water, distance from the wick and the water, time taken to heat the water Change: fuel used Measure: temperature rise, mass of fuel burnt Apparatus: Goggles, clamp and stand, conical flask, spirit burner, methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, tray, bunsen burner, splint, measuring cylinder, balance, ruler, stopwatch. Method: The apparatus was set up as shown in the diagram. The spirit burner with methanol in it was weighed using the balance. 100ml of water was measured using the measuring cylinder and was then put in the conical flask. The conical flask was clamped on to the stand, the conical flask was not put on a tripod because then the tripod would heat up which would affect the results. a conical flask was used

  • Word count: 997
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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What is Ethanol?

What is Ethanol? Ethanol, CH3CH2OH, is an alcohol-based fuel, which is a clear, colorless liquid with a pleasant scent. It is also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol. In dilute aqueous solution Ethanol has a sweet flavor but in concentrated solutions it has a burning taste. Ethanol melts at -114.1oC and boils at 78.5oC. Ethanol burns in air with a blue flame forming carbon dioxide and water. It reacts with some metals and with certain acids to form other substances. How is Ethanol Made? Ethanol is the alcohol of beer, wines and liquors. It can be prepared from a variety of sources. Since the ancient times it has been made from the fermentation of sugars. In most of the places worldwide it is still made by this process. In Canada Ethanol is made by growing crops like primary corn, wheat and barley. But nowadays as the technology is getting better and better it is providing opportunities to also produce Ethanol from forestry products like wood chips and also agricultural deposits like straw, grass and hay. The basic process of making Ethanol involves conversion of starch, which is present in high concentration in the grain or seed of the agricultural crops like Corn, Barley and Wheat. The starch is converted into sugar by using enzymes and by fermentation of sugar through yeast. During this process the yeast converts the sugar to Ethanol and Carbon Dioxide. The other

  • Word count: 778
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Chemistry - Reactivity Serires report

Name: Daniel Shih Form: 5D Teacher: Dr. Aravind School: Kiangsu-Chekiang College International Section Date: 12th January 2007 Index I Introduction Planning - Aims, Variables, Fair Test, Prediction, Hypothesis Planning - Apparatus, Procedure, Measurement, Safety rules Obtaining - Observation, Results Observation Analyse - Table 1 and Table 2 Analyse - Table 3 and Table 4 Analyse - Table 5 Evaluation, Conclusion Resources Introduction: What is the reactivity of metal? The reactivity of metal was the rate of metal which it would be reacting with each others. The higher the reactivity was, they could have replaced the more other kind of metal in the metal solutions. The metal who has the highest reactivity now is Potassium (K). What is metal? Metal is elements, there were more than 50 kinds of metals scientists have discovered today. The metal have different reactivity rate. Just like the Food Chain, higher reactivity metal can replace the lower reactivity metal when the reactions have occurs. How the reactions can occurs? The reaction occurs when a metal have replaced the other kind of metal in a solution, as example, When Magnesium have be drop into a Iron Sulphate solution, reaction occurs. Magnesium will take over irons placed, and formed Magnesium Sulphate solution, and left with Iron crystal. The Word equation will be: Magnesium + Iron Sulphate

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Test five fuels, to find out which is the most effective for heating.

Aim. I am going to test five fuels, to find out which is the most effective for heating. I am going to calculate the predicted energy output for each fuel and then test this. The five fuels I am going to test are: * Methanol * Butanol * Propanol * Ethanol * Pentanol Prediction I predict that the more chemical bonds each fuel has the more effective it will be at heating. I also think that the more chemical bonds there are the longer the fuel will burn for, I think this because there are more bonds to be broken and therefore more energy released when this happens. I calculated the predicted bond energy for each the fuels I was going to use. I think that; Pentanol will produce 74.4kJ of energy. Propanol will produce 68.3kJ of energy. Butanol will produce 33.9kJ of energy. Ethanol will produce 28kJ of energy Methanol will produce 21.2kJ of energy. Despite this I think that Butanol may burn better than Propanol as it has more chemical bonds. Calculations. Methanol- 2CH4O + 3O2 ,--> 2CO2 + 4H2O Bonds Broken. C-H x 6 = 2478 H-O x 2 = 928 O=O x 3 = 1494.4 C-O x 2 = 672 = 5572.9 Bonds Made. C=O x 4 = 3220 H=O x 8 = 3712 = 6932 Total Energy Release = 6932 - 5573 = 1359 kJ/mole (1359 ? 2) ? 32 = 21.2 kJ/mole Ethanol- C2H5OH + 3O2 --> 2CO2 + 3H2O Bonds Broken. C-H X 5 = 2065 H-O X 1 = 464 O=O X 3 = 1495 C-O X 1 = 358 C-C X 1 = 347 = 4729 Bonds

  • Word count: 922
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Alternative Fuels.

Alternative Fuels We know fossils fuels are a finite resource, and burning them is harmful to the environment, yet we don't want to give up our cars. So what does the future hold? The car has become so entrenched in our society that is unlikely to go away, but it will need to change dramatically to embrace new propulsion technology. While fully electric cars offering performance equal to current cars are someway off petrol-hybrid cars like Toyota's Prius, Honda's Insight and new Civic Hybrid debut new thinking. The principal behind them is, simply, the combination of a small efficient petrol engine and a powerful electric motor. Combined they offer a impressive output with 60mpg+ easily achievable, the batteries for the electric motors cleverly store re-generated energy produced when the car brakes. In reality, modern 'common-rail' diesels have the edge over such hybrids. More powerful and cheaper to produce, they are currently proving to be the most worthwhile 'alternative fuel' cars. Common-rail technology has slashed diesel emissions, while returning excellent mpg. Such direct-injection technology is slowly being introduced to petrol engines too, with similar enhancements in fuel economy and emissions. Although the long-term future of the conventional petrol/diesel engine may be bleak, such efficiency gains limit their impact on natural resources and the

  • Word count: 625
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Investigate the amount of energy liberated when different alcohols are burnt.

Investigate the amount of energy liberated when different alcohols are burnt. For this investigation I will be burning 5 alcohols to heat up a beaker of water placed above. The alcohols I will be burning are methanol, propanol, pentanol, heptanol and octanol. My aim is to find out how much energy is produced when burning these alcohols and whether the number of carbon and hydrogen atoms effects this. Alcohols react with oxygen from the air to form water and carbon dioxide. Alcohols general formula is Cn H n + 1OH and is defined as a series of organic homologous compounds. The reaction that is involved in burning alcohols is exothermic because it gives heat off. The energy is given out when the forming bonds between the water and carbon dioxide molecules. The amount of energy produced by the exothermic reaction can be calculated by using the general formula Mass x rise in temp x SHC (specific heat capacity-number of joules required to heat 1 gram of water by 1oC. The bonds that are formed in an exothermic reaction can be of two types, ionic and covalent. Ionic- the transfer of electrons from one atom to another. These are metals. Covalent- the sharing of electrons between atoms, completing it's outer shell. These are non-metals. An example is methane where four hydrogen shares an electron with a carbon atom. When some bonds are broken it is due to the energy which is

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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To investigate the relationship between the structure and heat produced by combustion for a range of alcohols

CHEMISTRY COURSEWORK: COMBUSTION OF ALCOHOLS AIM To investigate the relationship between the structure and heat produced by combustion for a range of alcohols THEORY ALCOHOLS Alcohols are a homologous series of organic compounds containing the functional group -OH known as a hydroxyl group. A functional group is a group of atoms in a structure that determines the characteristic reactions of a compound. In an alcohol, the hydroxyl group is bonded to an alkyl group. This is a chain of methyl groups with the formula CnH2n+1. The hydroxyl and methyl groups are covalently bonded. Bonds are the attraction of atoms or ions that hold a compound together. The bonds in an alcohol are always covalent. These are chemical bonds formed by the sharing of one or more pairs of electrons between two atoms. Covalent bonds are relatively weak bonds. The alcohol series are compounds that contain atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Where n is the constant, the general formula for alcohols are CnH2nOH. This is very similar to another series of compounds the alkanes. The formula for alkanes is CnH2n+1. Because the alcohols and alkanes are very similar, alcohols are sometimes known as alkanols. The homologous series of alkanols contains the following isomers (that will take part in the experiment). Alkanol Molecular Formula RMM Methanol CH3OH 32 Ethanol C2H5OH 46 Propan-1-ol

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Petrol - In its crude state, petroleum is a virtually useless material.

Petrol In its crude state, petroleum is a virtually useless material. However when refined, the hydrocarbons it contains supply almost half the world's current energy needs and are the starting chemicals from which about 90% of the worlds organic chemicals are made. Fractional distillation is the process by which the different fractions in crude petroleum are separated according to their boiling points. One of the fractions obtained is naphtha. Further fractionation of naphtha yields petrol (C - C alkanes). In the internal combustion engine, a piston compresses a mixture of air and petrol vapour. At the point of maximum compression, an electrical spark ignites the petrol/air mixture and rapid combustion occurs. A typical reaction would be the combustion of octane: The hot gaseous products expand against the piston and force it downwards. This mechanical energy is transmitted to the drive wheels of the car, enabling it to move. Petrol also contains various additives such as lubricants, rust inhibitors and anti-knock agent. Some hydrocarbons have a tendency to ignite spontaneously before maximum compression is achieved. This premature explosion, known as knocking, still forces the piston downwards and powers the vehicle. However, the chemical energy in the petrol is less efficiently converted into mechanical energy. As a result, the vehicle will do fewer miles per gallon.

  • Word count: 791
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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Planning - Variable input - Alcohol

SKILL P~PLANNING Input Variables Alcohol This is the variable I am going to investigate. An increase in the length of carbon-carbon chains will result in an increase of energy given out. This is due to the longer hydrocarbons having, a greater attraction to each other. Therefore more energy is needed to break them down so more energy is given out since the reaction is exothermic. Volume of Alcohol A greater volume means more molecules of the alcohol. More molecules will mean more atoms, hence more carbon-carbon chains. As is described above more carbon-carbon chains in this experiment will mean more energy. Therefore to keep this variable constant each alcohol will have the same number of molecules. Isomers of Alcohol Isomers may have different structures., and they may have different properties. We know that branched chains have lower boiling points then straight ones. Therefore to make sure that isomers do not effect the experiment only one isomer from each alcohol will be tested. Volume of Water To keep this variable constant the same volume of water for each experiment will be used. Mass of Ceramic Wool To keep this variable constant the same mass of ceramic wool will be used. Container To keep this variable constant only one container will be used for the whole experiment Height of Container To keep this variable constant the container will remain at the

  • Word count: 2755
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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To investigate how the heat of combustion of alcohols varies with the number of carbon atoms in the alcohol

Monday 11th November 2002 Phillip Preston 11B Chemistry Coursework 'To investigate how the heat of combustion of alcohols varies with the number of carbon atoms in the alcohol' Plan The heat of combustion of any substance is the amount of heat energy given out when 1 mole of that substance burns completely in air. Every covalent bond has a 'bond energy', it is the amount of energy needed to break the bond or the amount of energy given out as a bond is formed. During this experiment I will be comparing the theoretical bond energies with that of the actual value gained during my experiment. To work this out I need the formulae of the alcohols I am going to be working with and the theoretical bond energies. These two tables show just that: Alcohol Formula Structure Methanol CH3OH Ethanol C2H5OH Propan-1-ol C3H7OH Butan-1-ol C4H9OH Pentan-1-ol C5H11OH Hexan-1-ol C6H13OH Bond Bond Energy/KJ C-C 347 C-H 413 C-O 336 C=O 805 O-H 464 O=O 497 I am going to investigate the amount of energy that alcohols give off when burnt. This will be caused by the bonds breaking and energy being given off in the form of heat and light. I will be able to calculate the theoretical value thanks to the above table, and compare it with the value gained from my experiment. Delta H is a measure of the energy change that accompanies a reaction, in an exothermic reaction

  • Word count: 2375
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: Science
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