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The Language of Chemistry Types of Reactions : Combustion A fuel is a chemical or a mixture of chemicals that burns in the oxygen gas in the air liberating thermal energy. Most fuels are fossil fuels, such as natural gas and petroleum. These are made of carbon compounds which originated from organisms which lived millions of years ago. The products of combustion are carbon dioxide and water. The example below shows the gas methane burning in oxygen. Methane is found in natural gas.
Methane is a molecule made from the chemical bonding between one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. This reaction needs to be ignited before it will take place. Once ignited, however, the reaction produces a great deal of thermal energy. |
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