It is an exothermic process by which a substance is oxidized (by an oxidizing agent such as oxygen) to release a large amount of energy in the form of heat and/or light.
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68 views
Are there substances that cannot undergo combustion?
Are there substances that cannot undergo combustion? If so, what are they?
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1answer
28 views
What determines a substance's energy of activation with air?
Ice will melt when heat is applied; paper will catch fire. In trying to figure out why — what the difference is between things that melt and things that catch — I found "Burn, Char, Melt" by Roberto ...
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1answer
113 views
Is there a point at which Ethanol (E10) fuel becomes harmful to gas tanks or engines if not used?
This is not the typical chemistry question on this website, but I think it's an important practical question.
When I got a gas string trimmer, the woman who worked at the gardening shop told me that ...
3
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1answer
72 views
Phenomenon where fumes can relight an extinguished flame
I lit a mosquito coil and used it to melt down small down candle wax which had fallen on the floor. The coil then produced some dense fumes. I directed the fumes to the flame of a candle. As soon the ...
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1answer
106 views
How does sulfuric acid catalyze the reaction of potassium chlorate and sucrose?
Part of the total reaction is mentioned here:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ht/instantfire.htm
$\ce{2KClO3(s)} + \text{heat} \rightarrow 2\ce{KCl(s)} + 3\ce{O2(g)}$
The ...
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1answer
230 views
Enthalpy Calculations, Heat of Formation/Combustion
I just don't understand how to do these and would really appreciate your help.
1) Ammonium dichromate decomposes in a reaction when heated. Calculate the heat transferred for the decomposition of ...
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1answer
50 views
Is this enthalpy change question possible?
The question states the following equation:
$$ \ce{C(s) + 2H2(g) -> CO2(g) + 2H2O}$$
And then asks you to calculate the enthalpy change for it, given enthalpies of combustion.
The stated values ...
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2answers
89 views
What are the major environmental drawbacks with using methane as a combustable fuel?
What are the biggest environmental issues with using methane, $\ce{CH4}$, (which is found as the major energy source in natural gas, shale gas, biogas, and synthetic natural gas), as a combustible ...
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44 views
Forms of carbon in incomplete combustion
When hydrocarbons burn with little oxygen, carbon is produced. What form do these particulates of carbon come in?
Is it a simple molecule like $S_8$, or a small fragment of a larger structure, like ...
3
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1answer
173 views
In practice, how dangerous is liquid oxygen as an oxidizing agent?
The Wikipedia page on liquid oxygen tells us
Liquid oxygen is also a very powerful oxidizing agent [...], if soaked in liquid oxygen, some materials such as coal briquettes, carbon black, etc., ...
7
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1answer
81 views
In a Koppers-Totzek reactor, why do I get CO and H₂ instead of CO₂ and H₂O?
A Koppers-Totzek reactor (there seems to be only a German Wikipedia page) is an entrained flow gasifier that blows coal dust, oxygen and water (as steam, of course) into a burning chamber where the ...
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1answer
58 views
Is combustion considered a redox reaction?
When carbon combusts with oxygen, is this considered a redox reaction since the oxygen atoms gain electrons and the carbon atoms lose them?
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1answer
66 views
What are the key chemical characteristics that determine the octane rating of fuel?
The octane rating of petrol (gasoline) is a measure of the how much compression a fuel air mixture can have before detonating (which in petrol engines is a bad thing as you want the mix to combust ...
4
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1answer
70 views
Find mass of CO₂ and heat released per minute in a combustion reaction
I am not sure where to start with this problem. I know that $\small q = mc(T_f-T_i)$, but that seems like it would not help here. I think I need to balance the equation, but I am not sure how the rate ...
5
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2answers
105 views
Is it possible to get energy from frozen methane without oxygen?
In one of the solar system documentaries it was mentioned there are moons in the solar system with lakes of frozen methane.
Assuming humans or robots or whatever could make it there, would there be a ...
3
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2answers
242 views
How do I balance this combustion reaction?
I have butene being burned in a fuel rich engine and I can't seem to balance this reaction
$C_{4}H_{8}+a(O_{2}+3.76N_{2})->bCO_{2}+cH_{2}O+dC_{4}H_{8}+e(3.76N_{2})$
When I try write equations for ...
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1answer
91 views
Is ash fireproof?
At high temperatures (almost) everything burns to ash. Is ash 'fireproof'?
Is further combustion of ash possible for example by combining with hydrogen, oxygen, etc?
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1k views
Temperature of pure oxygen combustion [closed]
I'm wondering what the temperature of pure oxygen being burned is.
