LABORATORY REPORT

EXPERIMENT 2: HEAT OF COMBUSTION

GROUP 2 MEMBERS:
Dwayne Antid
Collin Brandon Asio
Yassin Jamel HA
CLASS - EF
Introduction:
1. Why was this study performed?
This study was performed to find the enthalpy change of water during
combustion based from the temperature difference, mass of alcohol burnt, the
specific heat of water, and the standard enthalpy change of the combustion of
alcohol, which is enthalpy change during combustion or ΔH, over the mole of fuel
used. This study was also performed for students to have a more
profound understanding of Combustion, the oxidation of carbon compounds by
oxygen in air to form carbon dioxide. The study also paved way for students to
recognize the Alcohol homologous series, such as ethanol, propanol, and
butanol – alcohols used in the experiment.

2. What knowledge already exists about this subject?

We already understand that the heat of combustion (∆H°comb) is the
change in enthalpy that occurs when one mole of a compound completely burns
in an abundance of oxygen under normal circumstances. We also determined
the fuels that were utilized during experimentation, which
are, CH3OH (methanol)
C2H5OH (ethanol), C3H7OH (propanol), C4H9OH (butanol), C5H11OH (pentanol)
and the necessary apparatuses required like, alcohol lamp, erlenmeyer flask,
and a modified calorimeter.

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 3. What is the specific purpose of the study?

The main objectives of the combustion experiment are to determine the enthalpy change of
water during combustion using the mass of alcohol burned, the specific heat of water, and the
standard enthalpy change of alcohol combustion. A specific amount of gas is burned, and that
gas's combustion is absorbed by a specific amount of water or air. This study aims to learn
more about the impacts of various alcohols that can be utilized as fuel. Even for electric
vehicles, combustion is a major component of our mobility because the majority of our electricity
is produced by combustion. With combustion, we produce heat for industrial activities as well as
heat for our houses, water, food, and other things.
Analysis:
1. What is a combustion reaction? Define heat combustion.

When an object, often a fuel or hydrocarbon, reacts with oxygen, carbon

dioxide, water, and heat energy are produced. This is an example of an
exothermic reaction in which energy in the form of heat and light is released.
Since combustion is an exothermic process, where fuel molecules interact with
oxygen molecules to produce carbon dioxide, water vapor, and energy in the
form of heat and light, the term "heat combustion" here refers to the heat that is
released in the combustion reaction.
2. Write a balanced equation for the combustion of ethanol, propanol
and butanol.

Ethanol
C₂H₅OH (l) + 3O₂ (g) → 2CO₂ (g) + 3H₂O (g)
Propanol
C₃H₇OH (l) + 5O₂ (g) → 3CO₂ (g) + 4H₂O (g)
Butanol
C₄H₉OH (l) + 6O₂ (g) → 4CO₂ (g) + 5H₂O (g)

3. What is the relationship between the number of carbon atom per

alcohol molecule and the heat of combustion? Compare your
calculated heat of combustion with the standard enthalpy of
combustion.

The heat of combustion generally increases as the number of carbon

atoms per alcohol molecule increases. This phenomenon occurs because longer
carbon chains contain a greater quantity of energy-storing bonds, including both
carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds. The molar heat of combustion
typically rises as the amount of carbon atoms in an alcohol molecule does. This
is due to the fact that longer carbon chains have more energy-storing carbon-
carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds.
This relationship, a fundamental tenet of chemistry, can be used to,
among other things, determine the energy content of fuels and comprehend the
efficacy of combustion processes. Simply put, alcohols with more carbon atoms
have more potential energy trapped in their chemical bonds and release more
heat energy during combustion reactions (burning).
According to our calculations, the standard enthalpy change of
combustion can fluctuate with temperature, and thus the two calculations (heat of
combustion and standard enthalpy), albeit having negative values, differ since
standard enthalpy has the reaction of combustion in strict conditions (1 atm and
25°C.)

4. Identify possible source of error in the experiment?

The accuracy of our data in the combustion experiment can be affected by
several factors that can cause our final calculations to fluctuate. Examples of
these are:
1. Partial combustion: It is possible that combustion has not
fully taken place, thus, the substance won't release all of its
energy content. This can occur due to a lack of oxygen or
poor control of the process.
2. Heat loss: Heat can dissipate into the surrounding
environment from the calorimeter or system. This might
 result from openings or leaks in the equipment, or even heat
transfer through conducting materials.
Conclusion:

In the conducted experiment, We, Group 2 of BSME-1 (EF), conclude that we

were able to accomplish our objective: Using the temperature difference, the amount of
alcohol burned, the specific heat of water, and the typical enthalpy change of alcohol
combustion, one may calculate the enthalpy change of water during combustion.
Additionally, in order to calculate the enthalpy of ethanol combustion, or the enthalpy
change for the reaction, a known mass of ethanol is burned in a spirit burner, and the
heat that is released is then transferred to a copper can that contains a known amount
of water. We gained a deeper grasp of the combustion mechanism and were able to
discover numerous alcohols from the Alcohol homologous family. We also get the
conclusion that different alcohols, when heated, burn in a variety of colors and all have
pervasive, powerful odors when burned.
Citations:
Science Ready. (n.d.). Enthalpy of Combustion: Experiment & Calculations –
HSC Chemistry. Retrieved from https://scienceready.com.au/pages/combustion-
of-alcohols-enthalpy-of-combustion