Lab-Aids: Modeling and Comparing Fossil Fuel and Biofuel Combustion Kit
Students should understand the costs and trade-offs of various decisions. In Part A of this activity, students use LAB-AIDS‚® Molecular Models to build methane, ethanol and octane molecules then "combust" them with oxygen molecules. "Combusting" the model molecules helps students determine the balanced chemical equations for the combustion reactions and compare the amount of carbon dioxide released when these three fuels are burned. In Part B students use standard bond energies to calculate and compare the amount of energy released during the combustion reactions they modeled in Part A. They are then asked to use their data about the energy released and the CO2 produced to choose which fuel they think is better.‚