Which fuel gave the greatest temperature rise in the experiment
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Answer:
Energy is essential for life. We fill our cars with energy-rich fuels so that they can transport us across town.
We burn fuel to create electricity to power the electronic gadgets on which we depend. We use fuel to heat the
buildings where we live and work. It is also the essence of life; we eat foods made up of carbohydrates, proteins and
fats to power our bodies.
Most of the fuels used today for power and heat are derived from petroleum oil, often referred to as crude
oil, but these have limitations: they are non-renewable resources, and their combustion produces large amounts of
pollution. Because of these problems, alternatives to petrol-based fuels are being developed, and their overall
effectiveness is being investigated. Each alternative chemical fuel (1) has a different chemical composition and
structure, (2) provides different amounts of energy, (3) produces different types and amounts of pollution, and (4)
costs a different amount.
How do we decide what is the best possible energy source when we account for all of these aspects? This
is one of the questions that you will investigate during the next two weeks as you explore the topic of chemical
change and energy by investigating alternative fuel sources that produce energy via chemical changes. You will
look at the energy content of different fuel sources as well as other issues that determine whether a fuel is a viable
energy source.
During the first week of this laboratory module, you will conduct calorimetry experiments to measure the
energy changes involved in the reaction between NaOH (aq) and HCl (aq). In the second week, you will compare
the combustion behaviors of different chemical compounds to determine which compound has the highest energy
content per gram. Using the information from this module, you should be able to construct an argument to address
the question “What fuel makes the best energy source?”