In this investigation I will be burning alcohol's to heat up a can of water. I will be burning four alcohol's, methanol, ethanol, propanol and butanol. The aim is to find out how much energy is produced when burning these alcohols. Alcohol's react with oxygen in the air to form water and carbon dioxide.
The reaction that is involved in burning alcohols is exothermic because heat is given out. From this reason the reactant energy is higher than that of the product.
The energy is given out when forming the bonds between the new water and carbon dioxide molecules. The amount of energy produ…