[Bearhat54]

I know that this is probably pretty simple stuff, but I could never get the whole chemistry lingo down. So here is the question:

A stove can burn fuels such as white gas, kerosene, diesel, naphtha, stoddart solvent, and gasoline. Choose the best fuel for heating this stove. Your answer should include a detailed procedure (I don't need that, its just a random part of the question), and another alternative for heating the stove.

Basically, I'm just confused as to where I should start. What formulas and stuff like that. Any explanations would be a welcomed start. Explain it to me like I'm an 8 year old is really what I want. There are just so many ways to ask the same question in chemistry that I just get really confused most times. Thanks a lot!

[specOTL]

By choosing the best fuel for heating this stove, you most likely want to look at the how much energy is release for each molecule of whatever is being burned. You might want to start there

[Bearhat54]

By choosing the best fuel for heating this stove, you most likely want to look at the how much energy is release for each molecule of whatever is being burned. You might want to start there

And I would obviously be using *Fuel* + O₂ -> H₂O + CO₂? What formula would I be using to figure out the Energy release? Would it be Δ_cH°=nΔ_cH°? Because honestly I don't know.

[Borek]

Google enthalpy of combustion.

It is not clear to me if "energy per molecule" is better than "energy per mass" of the substance burnt. Intuitively I would go for the latter.

[Dan]

Here is an old thread on a similar topic that might help:

http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=49054.0

[fledarmus]

This is a fairly open-ended question - how do you define "best"? Besides the heat content of the fuel measured either by mass or mole, safety in handling the fuel, accessibility, emissions, and affordability might also be appropriate criteria.

[Bearhat54]

This is a fairly open-ended question - how do you define "best"? Besides the heat content of the fuel measured either by mass or mole, safety in handling the fuel, accessibility, emissions, and affordability might also be appropriate criteria.

Yeah I think it must just mean which fuel burns the hottest a given time frame. I would think. That is all the info given in this question, so I'm only assuming.

[fledarmus]

"Burning the hottest" means you would need to look for the flame temperature - here is one source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adiabatic_flame_temperature

Most people with stoves aren't so concerned with the maximum temperature of the flame, however. After a certain point, the bigger concern is the total heat output of the fuel per gallon (or liter, or pound, or some other measure). This is usually called the fuel efficiency or the heat output of the fuel. Again, there is a start to finding these numbers here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_efficiency