Answer 1:
From your question, I am assuming that you're asking what the chemical formulas are for the different fuels that you're interested in studying. First, methanol is simply CH3OH, and if you're interested, ethanol is C2H5OH. Both are generally referred to as alcohols. Gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel are made up of aliphatic hydrocarbons, or molecules that are composed of only carbon and hydrogen. As it turns out, these types of fuels don't have a specific chemical formula, but rather are made up of several different types of hydrocarbons. Gasoline, for example, is mostly octane (C8H18), but is still comprised of five or six different types of hydrocarbons. Kerosene is made up of the next heavier fuel oils, and diesel fuel is even heavier yet.
When all of these fuels are burned in air, the hydrocarbons nominally react only with the oxygen in the air to from carbon dioxide and water. However some oxides of nitrogen can be formed (although not all that much). Also, there are trace amounts of impurities (e.g. sulfur) in the fuel that can lead to other by-products. Also, due to the imperfect nature of burning these fuels, there is also some generation of carbon monoxide instead of carbon dioxide. The formation of carbon monoxide and sulfur-based pollutants is a big issue for engine emissions.
Here are a couple of links that describe in more detail how gasoline and other fuels are made.
how stuff works more about wikipedia-gasoline
This link has a table contrasting the different amounts of energy from different types of fuels.
Measuring the heat released in chemical reactions is typically done in a calorimeter. As for the equipment, I would highly recommend that you talk to your parents and your science teacher about safety before beginning any experiments. Unfortunately, I'm not too familiar with commercial sources of calorimeters and how much they would cost. Hope this helps. Click Here to return to the search form.
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