MacGregor 1

Mathew MacGregor

Professor Kevin Okleberry

Chemistry 1010

9 December 2017

Combustion Reactions

What is the type of reaction that powers our cars, heats our homes, and is even used to

help generate the electricity we use? All of this can be done with what is known as a combustion

reaction. So, what exactly is a combustion reaction? A combustion reaction is a type of chemical

reaction where a compound such as a hydrocarbon and an oxidant such as oxygen come together

in an exothermic process to produce both heat and a new product. The general form of a

combustion reaction is Hydrocarbon + oxygen carbon dioxide + water + heat. This is the

general idea of how a combustion reaction takes place.

There are however multiple different types of combustion reactions that use different

hydrocarbons to react with oxygen. For example, there is the combustion of propane; which is

used to heat some rural homes around the world. This reaction involves propane (C3H8), and

diatomic oxygen (O2), both of which are in a gas state. The balanced equation comes out to

C3H8 + 5O2 3CO2 + 4H2O. This reaction produces carbon dioxide, water, and the heat that

is needed to warm someones house.

The hydrocarbon that we are looking for in the combustion of a car engine however is not

propane. The hydrocarbon that is commonly used is octane (C8H18), a major component in

gasoline. It should also be noted that gasoline is a complex mixture of compounds, but the

reaction shown is a simplistic representation of what happens. The combustion of both Octane

(C8H18) and diatomic oxygen (O2), gives us the balanced chemical equation 2C8H18 + 25O2
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16CO2 + 18H2O. Essentially what is happening inside someones car engine is that gasoline

(the hydrocarbon) is mixed with oxygen (the oxidant), the heterogeneous mixture is then

compressed and ignited with a sparkplug. This process provides people with the kinetic energy

needed to propel their cars.

We now have a general idea of what a combustion reaction is, how it works, and some

common types of combustion reactions. Since a lot of people are worried about global warming

these days, I wanted to use chemistry to figure out exactly how much carbon dioxide in grams

are produced from the 18-liter propane tank in my back-yard grill.

The first step is for me to figure out how much propane I have in terms of grams. Since

each liter is 1,000 grams, we have 18,000 grams of propane. Now I must convert this to moles,

that way I can find the molar ratio. But first I had to find the molar mass of propane (C3H8).

Given that the molar mass of carbon is 12.011, and the molar mass of hydrogen is 1.008; I can

conclude that the molar mass of propane is given by the formula (12.011 3) + (1.008 8).

This gives me the molar mass of 44.097 g/mole for propane.

Now that I have the amount of propane in grams and the molar mass of propane, I can

now calculate how many moles of propane we have by dividing 18,000 by the molar ratio of

propane. The result is that I have 1,276.86 moles of propane. Now I can calculate how many

moles of CO2 are produced assuming that the propane is the limiting reactant. We know that

from the balanced chemical equation C3H8 + 5O2 3CO2 + 4H2O, that for every propane

molecule we get three carbon dioxide molecules. This means that 1,276.86 3, will give us

3,830.58 moles of carbon dioxide.

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Now all we must do is convert the moles of carbon dioxide to grams by first finding the

molar mass of carbon dioxide (CO2). Giving the molar mass of carbon at 12.011 and the molar

mass of oxygen at 16, we come to the formula of 12.011+ (16 2), which gives us the molar

mass of carbon dioxide at 44.011. This means that the amount of carbon dioxide in grams

produced from an 18-liter tank of propane is 3,830.58 multiplied by 44.011; which is 168,587.65

grams of carbon monoxide produced.

In conclusion, combustion reactions are a defining part of modern civilizations. These

reactions are all around us in everyday life, and can even impact us on a global scale, as seen

with the amount of carbon monoxide released from this reaction.

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Work Cited

DeCoste, Donald, and Steven Zumdahl. Introductory Chemistry: A Foundation. 8th ed.

Cengage Learning, 2015. Print.

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Combustion Reactions - Definition and Examples."

ThoughtCo, Jul. 3, 2017, thoughtco.com/combustion-reactions-604030

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Types of Chemical Reactions." ThoughtCo, Nov. 2,

2017, thoughtco.com/types-of-chemical-reactions-604038

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Combustion Reaction Definition." ThoughtCo, Feb. 11,

2017, thoughtco.com/definition-of-combustion-reaction-604937

Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Mole Ratio Definition and Examples." ThoughtCo, Feb. 13,

2017, thoughtco.com/definition-of-mole-ratio-and-examples-605365