Ch ChemAI

All experiments › Energy

Energy from fuels: burning alcohols

Heat 100 g of water with a spirit burner, measure ΔT and the mass burnt, and calculate the enthalpy of combustion.

Topic: EnergyGrade: 10Free

🧪 Start the experiment — free

Runs in the browser on phones, tablets and computers. No sign-up needed. For teachers: assign any experiment to a class, see results and calculations.

What you do

  1. Note the water temperature and the mass of the burner, then light the ethanol burner.
  2. When the water is about 20 °C warmer (speed ×5), put the cap on. Read the new mass.
  3. Repeat with another alcohol (Fuel, New water). Which releases more energy per mole?
  4. Calculate the enthalpy of combustion for your last fuel, as a positive number (kJ/mol).

Safety in a real lab

⚠ Alcohols are flammable: keep the bottles away from the flame, put the cap on to put it out.

More experiments on this topic

Hot or cold?Endothermic and exothermic dissolving.Heat from displacementWhich metal gives the bigger temperature rise in copper sulfate?Burning magnesiumA metal that burns with blinding white light, and the basic oxide it leaves behind.