Saturday, January 22, 2011

Chemistry Comonent

Angle of Cannon:
 The first thing our group decided was to have the cannon shoot at a 45* angle, as stated below. We all thought that with a 45* angle, the cannon would have the perfect balance of height and distance, making it the best possible launch available.
Gas Law: Boyle's Law:
 As you can see below, our group decided that having a small combustion chamber would be best because Boyle's Law states that with a decrease in volume, you get an increase in pressure. We thought it would be just as simple as that: cut the cannon to be really small, but we noticed there was much more to it than that. We realized that if we cut the cannon too small, oxygen would become the limiting reagent instead of the ethanol, resulting in a incomplete reaction. (No reaction= No BOOM!) :)

Balanced Equation:
As with all combustion reactions, the format for the equation is CxHx + O2CO2 + H2O . The chemical formula of ethanol is C2H5OH. As you can see to the right, the chemical equation for this reaction is C2H5OH + O2CO2 + H2O. Next, all you have to do is balance, as I also did to the right.

 Final Equation:  
C2H5OH + O2 2CO2 + 3H2O

3 comments:

  1. Good post!Excellent job explaining step by step how you balanced your equation. But your final equation is partially cut off...I don't know if you want to edit that. Good job. :)

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  2. yes :), good job Sammi, it looks very well worked.

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  3. i liked your thoughts on the boyle's law part.

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