Investigation Into The Heat Of Combustion Of An Alcohol

Planning My aim for this experiment is to see the energy produced from different alcohols. This investigation involves burning alcohol in the air. ‘GCSE Chemistry’ by B.Earl and L.D.R Wilford says that "alcohols form, another homologous series, with the general formula Cn H2n+1OH ". The alcohol reacts with the oxygen in the air to form the products water and carbon dioxide.

Because it is dangerous to burn magnesium, it is not possible to directly record heat change. Our lab team suggests an indirect way of determining the heat of combustion for magnesium. To accomplish this, we need to perform two separate trials. One uses a solid (powder) version of MgO, while the other uses Mg ribbon. With the results from these, we can use Hess’ Law to determine q=∆H. This provides both a safe and successful way of indirectly determining the heat of combustion for magnesium.

The experiment began by mixing the initial 1.775g isopentyl alcohol with 2.3 mL acetic acid and about 5 drops sulfuric acid. This reaction mixture was then heated under reflux for an hour after boiling of the reaction mixture began.

In this lab, the molar mass of a volatile liquid is determined based on its physical properties in the vapor state. In order to calculate the molar mass, the mass, temperature, pressure, and volume is measured independently and then converted to the correct units. Sample C was obtained at the beginning of the experiment, which was later informed to be ethanol. Based on the calculations made, the molar mass of the volatile liquid was 95.9 g/mol. However, compared to the known value of 46.1 g of ethanol, the value measured had a 108% error. Unfortunately, this was a very big percent error and may have been caused by incorrectly measuring the volume of the gas. Using the ideal gas law, the molar mass of a volatile compound was calculated in order

Corresponding to the previous experiment, this week’s experiment measures the participants’ ability to conduct basic, fundamental laboratory procedures. These procedures revolve around scientific measurements of volume, mass, and density. Unlike last week’s activity, this week’s experiment had a few modifications. In addition to distilled water, saltwater and an unknown substance were added. There was a total of five substances to choose from; Hexane, Methanol, Ethyl acetate, Ethylene glycol, and Dichloromethane. Part C, the unknown liquid number was four, which the average density was 0.789 gmL-1, and from looking at the chart the unknown identity was methanol. Part A, the temperature of the water was 20 oC, which was in front of the class,

Trial 1: A dish was filled with approximately 2 cm water and a candle mounted on clay was place in it. The candle was lit and a jar was placed over top of the candle so that it was resting on the dish. When the flame went out the water level inside the jar was measured. This process was repeated three times.

The lab used methods of calorimetry in order to measure the temperature change of reactions and calculate the changes in

Alcohol, if consumed in high quantities, poses serious personal and public health and safety issues. In the realm of public safety, engaging in said activity significantly impairs cognitive activity, affecting one’s ability to utilize proper judgment and operate machinery, among other things. Thus, operating machinery while under the influence of alcohol puts not only the operator, but also others in the vicinity of the operator, in danger of being harmed. This is a universally recognized and accepted reality.

For instance, pentan-1-ol, the alcohol utilised to synthesis 1-pentyl ethanoate, is relatively flammable due to the hydroxyl functional group attached to the molecule. Therefore, in order to prevent severe burns, a laboratory coat and safety glasses were worn. The experiment was additionally performed whilst standing up, so that if the aliquot of pentan-1-ol ignited,

have five C-H bonds, one C-C bond, one C-O bond and one O-H bond. To

The study of alcohol as an academic experiment can be traced back to the 1700s when J.J. Plenc proposed the chemical identification of poisons (Center for Studies of Law in Action,

What is the effect of the amount oxygen in a beaker on the burntime of a lit candle beneath the beaker? Our group agreed that if the beaker were bigger, which would allow more oxygen in the beaker, then the candle will take longer to burn out then it would with a smaller beaker and less room for oxygen. In this experiment we used clay to hold a birthday candle up with in a pie pan. The pie pan had a little bit of water in it so it would help seal the beakers we used. After lighting the candle we put many beakers of different sizes over the candle to time how long it took for the candle to burn out. We discovered that our hypothesis was, in fact, correct. The larger the beaker was that we used, the longer the candle burned.

We will be using 6 different fuels to heat up 100ml of water, and find out the changes of the temperature. We will measure the temperatures of the water before and after the experiment. We will burn heat the water for exactly 2 minutes, and check the changes in temperature. The change in temperature will allow us to work out the energy given off the fuel by using this formula:

The results that were revealed were thought to be accurate and reliable as many factors were controlled to enable the best quality. The results that a constant rise in the combustion occurred as each alcohol’s carbon chain increased with one exception indicates that the reliability of this experiment has to be examined. With such a high percentage error from these results means they cant be definitive. Also only three trials were conducted on the five different alcohols. If the experiment were to be conducted again I would conduct five trials on each alcohol to get a better average.

Purpose: This lab taught procedures for determining heat of capacity of a calorimeter and measuring enthalpy of change for three reactions. It also enforced methods of analyzing data obtained through experimentation and calculating enthalpy. These procedures are used in the branch of thermodynamics known as thermochemistry which is the study of energy changes that accompany chemical reactions. Concepts from this lab can be used to determine the potential energy of a chemical reaction. Much of the energy people depend on comes from chemical reactions. For example, energy can be obtained by burning fuel, metabolizing of food or discharging a batter.