Saturday, August 18, 2012

What is the amount of carbon dioxide emitted when one kilogram of wax candles is burned?

Candles are made from paraffin wax, which has a generic chemical formula of . In this equation, n could be between 20 and 30. When candle wax burns, the following chemical reaction will take place:



Thus, for every mole of candle wax burnt, n moles of carbon dioxide are generated.


A possible chemical formula for candle wax could be C20H42. The chemical formula for its burning would be:



With this chemical composition, the molar mass of candle wax would be:


molar mass = (20 x 12) + (42 x 1) = 282 g/mole


1 kg or 1,000 g of candle wax = 1000 g / (282 g/mole) = 3.546 moles of candle wax


Using stoichiometry, 3.546 moles of candle wax will generate 70.92 moles (= 20 x 3.546) of carbon dioxide.


Since the molar mass of carbon dioxide is 44 g/mole, the amount of carbon dioxide generated = 70.92 moles x 44 g/mole = 3,120.48 g CO2


or, 3.12 kg of CO2.


Hope this helps.

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