I just read that 1 kg of fossil fuel burnt produces 3 kg of carbon dioxide. The reason given was simple - 1 carbon atom is combined with 2 oxygen atoms. I don't understand this - can someone please explain it to me? Thanks.
2007-02-08 01:08:48 · 5 answers · asked by Valerie C 1 in Environment
If your fuel was butane (ligther) C4H10 the reaction is:
2C4H10 + 13O2 --> 8CO2 + 10H2O
1mole C4H10 ==> 4 moles CO2
MW 44.09 g/mole MW = 44 g/mole
1 kg(mole/44.09)= 22.68 moles C4H10
so you should get 4 x 22.68 mole CO2 = 90.72 mole CO2
90.72mole*(44g/mole)kg/1000g = 3.99 kg CO2
see!
2007-02-08 01:44:19 · answer #1 · answered by Dr Dave P 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Say you burn a kg of carbon. Each carbon atom combines with two oxygen atoms to form CO2. So you have the original kg of carbon plus the weight of the oxygen that combines with it. The oxygen weighs more and you get a total of 3 kg of CO2. Actually it's a bit more than 3 kg, one oxygen atom weighs more than one carbon atom.
Man produced about 26.4 Gigatons (25.3-27.4) of CO2 every year between 200-2005, from fossil sources. 1 Gigaton is 1,000,000,000 [corrected, Cosmo was right] tons. Source; the IPCC report.
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf
It's right up front in the report. Yes, it's a staggering amount.
2007-02-08 01:39:34 · answer #2 · answered by Bob 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your initial premise is wrong. There is NO substantial proof that the burning of fossil fuels by man has had ANY effect on global warming. That is a scam. Fossil fuels produce carbon dioxide due to the chemical reactions involved in burning them.
2016-03-28 22:00:04 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Wrong question ,it is not the CO2 that is produced but why. That is the procedure that Mother nature put in place to recycle our air. The plants have done a great job ,look up photosynthesis on the net .
2007-02-08 03:29:58 · answer #4 · answered by JOHNNIE B 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bob is basically right, except a gigaton is 1,000,000,000 tons. Giga = 10^9.
2007-02-08 02:33:40 · answer #5 · answered by cosmo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋