An Investigation into the Enthalpies of the Combustion of Alcohols Essa

An Investigation into the Enthalpies of the burning at the stake of Alcohols==================================================================PlanningMy aim for this experiment is to see the free muscularity produced fromdifferent intoxicants. This investigating involves burning alcohol in theair. GCSE Chemistry by B.Earl and L.D.R Wilford says that alcohols miscellanea, another homologous series, with the general formula Cn H2n+1OH. The alcohol reacts with the oxygen in the air to form the products wet and carbon dioxide.This reaction is exoergic, as heat is given come to the fore. This is because the measuring rod reactant ability is more than the product energy the differencebetween this is H, accordingly some energy has been given out in theform of heat. The energy is given out when forming the bonds betweenthe new wet and carbon dioxide molecules. This stinker be shown in anenergy level plot Reaction unionise H is the heat content,which is the enthalpy, which is n egative in exothermic reactions asthe diagram shows that energy is lost as heat. Enthalpy is definedas the energy of reaction, or the heat energy associated with achemical change. For any reaction carried out directly at a constantpressure, the heat flow is bargonly equal to the difference betweenenthalpy of products and that of the reactants.To measure the heat energy given off, we must use this energy to heatsomething, this depart be water. This is assuming that all the heatproduced by combustion of the alcohol will equal the amount of heatabsorbed by the water (q). So I will measure the amount of energyrequired to do so. This can be worked out by employ the formula q = weed x precise heat capacity x temperature rise or q = MCH. Where qis the quantity of heat. The specific heat capacity is the amount ofenergy required to heat the substance, and is calculated using theformula q =energy supplied/ plentitude x Temperature, where q is theenthalpy, c is the specific heat capacity and H is the temperaturerise. I chose to use water as it is safe, easily obtainable, and has aconstant, reliable specific heat capacity of 4.2J/C.The bonds which are do in a exothermic reaction are forces ofattraction between the atoms or ions in a substance. These can be oftwo types covalent, in which the atoms share electrons. Examples ofthis are water and carbon dioxide, whi... ...lowtemperature reading to heat the 100cm3 of water.The procedure of the experiment was good generous of finding out theenergy gained from the individual alcohols, but changes could havebeen made to make the reliability of the results more accurate. Thiscould have been done by using a better and more accurate thermometer,such as an galvanic thermometer, which have gave me a much more pinpoint array of results.If I were to do this experiment again I would make a number ofimprovements or changes, I could use a Bomb Calorimeter whichsubmerges the reaction inside an insulated container of water. Anelect rical heating device starts the reaction inside a sealed reactionvessel and the temperature rise of the water which surrounds it ismeasured. Bomb calorimeters are often used to find the calorific valueof foods.Looking at the experiment I did I thought we could have extended theresults we achieved by using different flame lengths, this would havetold us how much the alcohol uses its energy when the flame isincreased. I could have also changed the amount of water in the coppercalorimeter, or even change the concentration of alcohol to see theeffect.