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Heat Of Combustion Using Hydrocarbons As Fuel

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Introduction:
This experiment is focused on heat of combustion using hydrocarbons as fuel. All three fuels produce combustion reactions which are exothermic. When bonds are formed or broken the most common form of energy released or taken in is heat energy. Heat of combustion is a way of measuring how much energy is output from a combustion reaction, the energy that is output is usually in the form of heat. Figure 1. Combustion reaction of methane (middleschoolchemistry.com) When a combustion reaction takes place it is when a liquid (typically a hydrocarbon) gets oxidised into the form of H2¬O and CO2, The formula for heat of combustion is -∆H = Q/n, the formula looks similar to change in enthalpy but they represent different thing . As enthalpy measures the change in heat (energy) that something has before and after a reaction. Meanwhile heat of combustion shows how much heat is given to its environment. In this EEI heat of combustion will be the focus since it is the best way to decide which fuel is the best to take camping. Q is the heat, it is found by using the equation Q = mc∆T. m is the change in mass of the fuel, c being the specific heat capacity (usually of water that is heated up) and ∆T is the change in temperature. Q is divided by the amount of moles of fuel used to find -∆H. The vast majority of combustion reactions are exothermic.

Like all chemical reactions, a combustion reaction requires energy to be supplied to break chemical bonds and making chemical

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