Comparing the enthalpy changes of combustion of different alcohols.

... Rebecca Winter November 2003 Plan Comparing the enthalpy changes of combustion of different alcohols I am going to investigate the enthalpy change of combustion of a number of alcohols. The enthalpy change of combustion of a fuel is a measure of the energy transferred when one mole of fuel burns completely under the stated conditions. Enthalpy is defined as the energy of reaction, or the heat energy associated with a chemical change. I will be investigating how and why the enthalpy change is affected by the molecular structure of the alcohol. Therefore, I will attempt to find how the number of carbon atoms that the alcohol contains affects the enthalpy change that occurs during the combustion of the alcohol. Alcohols are derived from alkanes by substituting an -OH group for an -H atom. They are a series of related organic molecules and have a general formula of: CnH2n+1OH, where

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