# Propan-1-ol Heats Objects Faster than Propan-2-ol. Is this an anomaly?

After conducting a practical revolving around burning alcohols, I found that propan-1-ol heated the 50 mL of water to 60 °C about 1 min faster than propan-2-ol.

The experiment was controlled as much as possible, including the temperature escaping the setup.

I know that propan-2-ol is more volatile than propan-1-ol, so I have a reason to believe that this is tied to the slower heating. On the other hand, I have yet to find any sources to verify this.

If I do not find any more about this, I will have to call this out as an anomaly.

If anyone knows anything about the relationship between the position of the $\ce{OH}$ bond in an alcohol and the heat output/speed of heating, please explain this to me.

• 1 min faster than what? 1 min vs 2 min is quite different from 100 min vs 101 min. – DHMO Sep 5 '16 at 10:03
• You are aware of the difference in combustion enthalpy? -2021 kJ/mol compared to -2006 kJ/mol? – Karl Sep 5 '16 at 11:13

The enthalpy of combustion $\Delta_\mathrm cH$ of a substance can be calculated from the enthalpy of formation $\Delta_\mathrm fH$. For a compound containing only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, the general combustion reaction is

$$\ce{C_aH_bO_c + (a + 1/4 b – 1/2 c) O2 -> a CO2(g) + 1/2 b H2O(l)}$$

The corresponding standard enthalpy of combustion is

$$\Delta_\mathrm cH^\circ=-a\Delta_\mathrm fH^\circ(\ce{CO2,g})-\frac12b\Delta_\mathrm fH^\circ(\ce{H2O,l})+\Delta_\mathrm fH^\circ(\ce{C_aH_bO_c})$$

This equation applies if the reactants start in their standard states and the products return to the same conditions. The standard state pressure is $p^\circ=10^5\ \mathrm{Pa}=100\ \mathrm{kPa}=1\ \mathrm{bar}$ (note that most data published before 1982 used a standard pressure of one ‘standard atmosphere’, i.e. $p=1\ \mathrm{atm}=101325\ \mathrm{Pa}$). The definition of standard state makes no reference to fixed temperature; thus, the standard enthalpy of formation and the standard enthalpy of combustion remain functions of temperature. The most widely used reference temperature is $T=25\ \mathrm{^\circ C}=298.15\ \mathrm K$.

The following values for the standard molar enthalpy of formation at $p=10^5\ \mathrm{Pa}=100\ \mathrm{kPa}=1\ \mathrm{bar}$ and $T=25\ \mathrm{^\circ C}=298.15\ \mathrm K$ are taken from “Standard Thermodynamic Properties of Chemical Substances”, in CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 90th Edition (CD-ROM Version 2010), David R. Lide, ed., CRC Press/Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, FL.

\begin{align} \Delta_\mathrm fH^\circ(\text{propan-1-ol},\ \mathrm l)&=-302.6\ \mathrm{kJ\ mol^{-1}}\\ \Delta_\mathrm fH^\circ(\text{propan-2-ol},\ \mathrm l)&=-318.1\ \mathrm{kJ\ mol^{-1}}\\ \Delta_\mathrm fH^\circ(\ce{H2O, l})&=-285.8\ \mathrm{kJ\ mol^{-1}}\\ \Delta_\mathrm fH^\circ(\ce{CO2, g})&=-393.5\ \mathrm{kJ\ mol^{-1}} \end{align}

During your experiment, the products certainly did not completely return to the initial temperature. Anyway, for the difference in enthalpy of combustion of propan-1-ol and propan-2-ol, the exact state of the products is not relevant (provided that the conditions are reproduced) since the produced amounts of $\ce{CO2}$ and $\ce{H2O}$ are identical. The remaining difference is caused by the difference in enthalpy of formation of propan-1-ol and propan-2-ol.