Lesson 5 of 8
Combustion
Goal: Describe combustion and its products.
Combustion is burning. A fuel reacts with oxygen and gives out energy as heat and light.
- A fuel stores energy in a chemical store. Wood, wax, petrol and methane (natural gas) are fuels.
- A fire needs three things: fuel, oxygen and heat. Take any one away and the fire goes out.
- Many fuels are hydrocarbons: compounds of hydrogen and carbon only. When one burns in plenty of air, the products are carbon dioxide and water.
- You can show the products. Draw the gases from a candle flame through a cold tube and then through limewater. Water collects in the cold tube, and carbon dioxide turns the limewater cloudy.
methane + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water
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Key words in this lesson
Product A new substance made in a reaction
Combustion Burning: a reaction with oxygen that gives out heat and light
Fuel A substance that stores energy and is burned to release it
Hydrocarbon A compound of hydrogen and carbon only, such as methane
Limewater A clear solution that carbon dioxide turns cloudy