3.4 I can recall the products of complete and incomplete combustion of alkenes

1.       Saturated hydrocarbons are called Alkanes

2.       Small chain Alkanes are used as fuels

3.       The reaction is called combustion.

4.       The word equation for  this chemical reaction is :

fuel (Alkane) + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water + ENERGY (heat, light, sound)

5.       If there is insufficient oxygen then the word equation is:

fuel (Alkane) + oxygen → carbon monoxide +  water  + ENERGY (heat, light, sound)

6.       The problem with this reaction is that carbon monoxide produced this gas is a toxic gas to the human body (see objective 5.11)

7.       Where can you find incomplete combustion?

            In car engines

8.       What is used to reduce the harmful products from incomplete combustion?

            A catalytic converter

9.       During incomplete combustion a smoky flame is often seen, explain this observation

            The smoky flame is produced by unburnt, solid, carbon molecules floating in the air - soot.

Extn: write a balanced equation (with state symbols) for the combustion of propane gas

     

C₃H_{8 (g)} + 5O_{2 (g)}  →  3CO_{2 (g)} + 4H₂O _(L)