Isopropyl Alcohol Research Paper

Fuels are an important component of everyday life in the world today. A fuel is any material that stores potential energy that is released into usable energy for work or released as heat (Wikipedia, fuels, 2015). When under combustion, the covalent bonds in the fuel are broken and release energy through exothermic reactions. Alcohols are a type of fuel that is safer and more abundant to burn. An alcohol is any organic compound where a hydroxyl is chemically bound to a saturated carbon atom where there are only single bonds in the molecule (Wikipedia, saturation, 2015; Wikipedia, alcohol, 2015). Alcohols can either be straight-chained or branch chained, each being an alkane. A carbon atom joined onto at most two other carbon atoms is a straight chain, whereas a branch chained alcohol is one where the empirical formula is identical to that of a straight chain, however the structure is variant or where at least one carbon atom is joined onto more than two carbon atoms. This difference in structures results in the former having a higher boiling point. The straight chain molecules can align more efficiently with each other and hence have higher intermolecular forces or Van der Waals forces (gcsescience.com, Products from Oil, 2015).

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.

The aim of this experiment is to test each fuel (Ethanol, Hexanol and Octanol) by using a spirit burner, tripod and beaker filled with water to determine which fuel produces the most effective heat of combustion that is also safe to take camping. This will be conducted by using a stopwatch to time the combustion of each fuel to determine which fuels heats the water quickly, and what materials can be used to minimise loss of energy when heat is being transferred from the flame to the water.

The limiting reagent used in this experiment is the isopentyl alcohol while the reagent used in excess is the acetic acid. The molar excess is about 1.5 – 1.75 times greater than the amount that is theoretically yielded.

Switching from the expensive oil to alternative fuels has moved from a dream to reality. Today, there are dozens of alternatives to oil that are currently available us to be used. One alternative to oil that is being used more today is ethanol. Derived from plant materials, ethanol can be a cheaper, cleaner alternative to the gasoline that our vehicles run off. When going to gas pumps, one will notice that much of the gasoline is up to 10 percent of ethanol. According to our text, most ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn, yet ethanol can be made from any biomes-- including garbage. (Turk & Bensel, 2011)

According to Oxford Dictionaries, alcohol is a colorless volatile flammable liquid that is produced by the natural fermentation of sugars and is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel (Fowler, H. W., Fowler, F. G., & Murray, J. A. (1964). The concise Oxford dictionary f

Mankind has relied on non-renewable resources for thousands of years, and only recently has it started to take its toll on the environment. Chemists have been experimenting with different types of fuels and adding to gasoline to make it more efficient. This is when ethanol made its debut into the fuel industry, as an additive to gasoline. Ethanol is put into gas as a combatant against water, which can find its way into fuel tanks of vehicles. It reduces the effect that this water has on the health of the vehicle, and as a result increases gas mileage, and also increases the amount of complete combustion. Ethanol consumption has severe drawbacks pertaining to its effect on the environment. Production of ethanol increases the formation of

This report extensively analyses the production and breakdown of Ethanols, to assess its properties and their relation to being a fuel. The use of Ethanol as reliable source of renewable energy and its current effects on society. The potential use of ethanol as an alternative to coal and fossil fuels, the advantages and disadvantages of Ethanol.

One resolution to the fuel pollution issue uses the idea of reinvention to curb the damage that smoke and fuel causes to the environment. A U.S. company, Sea Change LLC. paired with the Maine Maritime Academy to create a more friendly fuel (“1”). The engineering classes at the academy along with chemists created a fuel that burned cleaner and safer for the environment. The fuel used mirco-glycerol droplets mixed with ultra-low sulfur diesel to reduce harmful emissions and as a result found a reduction in smoke by 25 to 50 percent (“1”). In addition Nitrogen Oxide levels showed a reduction by 5 to 15 percent compared to regular low-sulfur diesel at equivalent horsepower (“1”). This hard work truly paid off big for these two entities and they showed that with some ingenuity safer ways of burning fuel just wait to be

This experiment was aimed to discover which fuel out of ethanol, octanol-1 ad 2-pentanol would be the most suitable to take on a camping trip. This was completed by filling a spirit lamp with one of the three selected fuels and then lighted to heat the water 150C from the initial temperature, after this the spirit lamp was measured before and after; the data that was collected was then used to calculate release of combustion and enthalpy. It was discover that octanol-1 would be the best option out of ethanol, octanol-1 and 2-pentanol to take on a camping trip. This was due to its heat of combustion being higher due to it containing more carbons than the other two fuels. By having more carbons it had a greater heat of combustion which caused

How diesel has become the cleaner safer fuel than gasoline for vehicles. Here in the US we are just starting to introduce more diesel engine options for the consumer, something Europe has been doing for many years. “Diesel. To many American drivers the “D” word is something of a mystery. It’s associated with construction equipment, tractor trailers and hillbillies “rollin’ coal” in their modified pickups, spewing more black smoke than a burning pile of used tires.”(Craig Cole) Now diesel engines outperform and are cleaner than gasoline engines. According to cleandieseldelivers.com “diesel engines average 30 percent better fuel economy and up to 25 percent lower CO2 emissions.”(Clean Diesel Delivers) Finally, diesel’s can help ease the strain on your wallet with their added financial benefit.

Well we all know that the energy system is very unstable because the total energy available on the earth is limited, and man has exploited all the conventional technologies to fulfill his needs. By the use of these conventional technologies, the world also has a disability, with problems such as global warming. Consumption of energy by man increased gradually as his wants also increase. The conventional energy resources mainly include fossil fuels, but research shows that this fuel source will be depleted completely in approximately 20-25 years. This could cause major setbacks around the world. As a result, we need an alternative source of fuel that could keep the world running on its wheel. One possibility is ethanol. Chemically extract

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.

This essay will first discuss the advantages of using corn ethanol as the main source of fuel in the future, such as the renewable features of corn itself, and the benefits of using corn ethanol as an additive of gasoline instead of using gasoline alone. However, everything has its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, the second part of the essay will discuss some of the weaknesses in applying the fuel into practical usage. For example, corn ethanol currently encounters technical limitations serving itself as a standalone fuel, meaning that corn ethanol can only function by combining itself with a certain amount of gasoline, while gasoline is a kind of fossil fuel. Lastly, this essay will conduct a comparison with other renewable resources in the world, including solar power, other biofuels, and hydrogen fuel.

In the early days of the automobile the steam engine was first fitted to a three wheeled vehicle, this was quickly replaced by the internal combustion engine, for in my opinion the practical reason of carrying fuel was easier in a liquid form rather than in the form of coal, wood and water. But ever since that day and especially ever since the 1960 's when laws were enacted for safety and for the environment automakers have been working to make the internal combustion engine work better and cleaner. This has brought us engines like the Flex Fuel engine. This is an engine that can run on gasoline but can also run on a high ethanol containing fuel. The issue with ethanol is that it produced a lot of octane, but not a lot of mileage, but because it is made from bio mass it is a greener form of fuel. Another way they have tried to make the engine better is through on demand cylinders. This is where a vehicle might have a v8 engine, but only uses those