What exactly is heat of combustion? How would I calculate it?

[black_hole]

1. Calculate heat of combustion for butane. Given:

mass water- 129.91g
mass butane 0.15g
old temp- 16.4 degrees C
new temp.- 26.7 degrees C

2. Homework Equations

2C4H10 + 3O2 yields 8CO2 + 10H2O

3. The Attempt at a Solution

I've tried, but I really have no idea. I only know how to calculate q and apparently that's not the same.

 

[Borek]

Heat of combustion is per mole, what you have calculated is for 0.15g...

 

[Blueshift5]

The heat of combustion is the amount of energy released when a substance undergoes complete combustion with oxygen. It is a measure of the chemical potential energy stored in a substance. In simpler terms, it is the amount of heat produced when a substance is burned.

To calculate the heat of combustion, you need to know the mass of the substance being burned and the amount of heat released. This can be determined by measuring the change in temperature of the surrounding environment, as shown in the given problem.

To calculate the heat of combustion for butane, you can use the equation:

q = m x c x ΔT

where q is the heat released (in joules), m is the mass of the substance (in grams), c is the specific heat capacity of water (4.18 J/g°C), and ΔT is the change in temperature (in °C).

In this case, the mass of water is 129.91g and the change in temperature is 26.7°C - 16.4°C = 10.3°C. Plugging in these values, we get:

q = (129.91g) x (4.18 J/g°C) x (10.3°C) = 5431.8 J

This is the amount of heat released by the combustion of 0.15g of butane. To calculate the heat of combustion, we need to convert this value to per gram of butane. This can be done by dividing by the mass of butane:

5431.8 J / 0.15g = 36,212 J/g

Therefore, the heat of combustion for butane is 36,212 J/g. This means that for every gram of butane burned, 36,212 joules of heat are released.