ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION
FUELS LAB
Purpose:
• To examine the energy content of various
alternative fuels which could be used for
powering our vehicles in the future. As gasoline
becomes increasingly expensive, alternatives will
need to be employed to keep the transportation
system moving. During this lab, you will be
asking: How does the energy content of
alternative fuels compare to that of gasoline’s
11,530 calories per gram?
Vocabulary
• calorie = the energy required to raise one milliliter
of water one degree Celsius
• Calorie = one thousand calories (kilocalorie); often
referred to as the “Big Calorie” or food calorie
• Torch Fuel
• Vegetable oil – corn, canola & soybean
• Ethanol (ethyl alcohol)
• Methanol (methyl alcohol)
• Isopropyl alcohol (70% vs. 91%)
Procedure
1. Take one of the two types of fuel that your group
will be testing (7 fuels will be tested by the class).
Remove the cap (if it is still on) and then determine
the mass of the entire alcohol burner with its fuel
(without the cap of course) Write down the mass
in grams in your data collection chart.
2. Take a 500ml beaker and fill it up approximately
four-fifths of the way. Add three or four ice cubes
and then use the stirring rod to swirl the water-ice
mixture so the temperature of the water goes
down quickly. Your goal should be to get the water
temperature down to between 5 and 10 degrees
Celsius.
3. Using a graduated cylinder, carefully measure out
300ml of the cooled water and poor it into the
aluminum can.
4. Put the aluminum can with water on the ring
stand.
5. Take the alcohol burner with the fuel that you are
about to test and place it directly under the
aluminum can.
6. Stick the thermometer into the opening in the
aluminum can and carefully measure the
temperature of the water. Write down the
temperature to the nearest tenth of a degree
Celsius in your data chart.
7. Light your fuel burner, adjust it so that the top of
the flame is 1 cm below the bottom of the can and
centered in the middle, and then immediately start
your timing. (Note: Do not pull the wick out too far;
in most cases, just a few millimeters of wick needs
to be extended out of the neck of the burner, this is
especially true with torch fuel where an extended
wick can cause and enormous flame).
8. Heat your water for exactly 5 minutes.
9. After exactly 5 minutes, blow out the flame, and
measure the temperature of the water by sticking
the thermometer back into the can and stirring
gently stirring to circulate the water and distribute
the heat evenly. Record the temperature and
record it in your data chart.
10. Measure the mass of the burner (without the cap
on) again so that you will be able to determine the
amount of fuel that was used during the five
minutes of heating.
11. Carefully remove the aluminum can (grab the top
of the can not the bottom so that you do not
accidentally burn yourself) and pour the heated
water down the drain.
12. Now repeat this procedure for the other fuel that
you are testing.
13. Once you have collected all your data we will share
your results with the class and then it is time to do
your calculations and data analysis.
Data
Fuel Type
Final
Temp
Initial
Temp
Temp
X
Increase 300
mL
CORN OIL
Total
Calorie
Initial Final
Mass Mass
Mass
Calories
of Fuel / gram
300
CANOLA OIL
14
5
9
300
240
238.6
1.4
SOYBEAN
OIL
16
9
7
300
238.8
234.4
4.4
91%
ISOPROPYL
25
25
21
6
10
10
19
15
11
300
200.1
220.8
216.9
196.8
216.8
213.7
3.3
4
3.2
METHYL
ALCOHOL
32
10
22
300
213.1
207.1
6
ETHYL
ALCOHOL
29.8
26
27
10
10
10
19.8
16
17
300
206.9
219.3
215
202.2
215.6
212.3
4.7
3.7
2.7
4
9
300
169.8
167.4
2.4
TORCH FUEL 13
Calculating calories per gram
• Total calories / Grams of fuel used X Correction factor =
calories per gram
• Outdoor correction factor = 2.5 (assuming a 60% energy
loss)
• Indoor correction factor = 1.7 (assuming a 33% energy loss)
• calories per gram X Density = calories per milliliter
• calories per gram/1000 = kilocalories = Calories = Food
Calorie
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Which of the fuels that you analyzed can be considered fossil fuels?
Which fuel contained the most energy per gram?
Which fuel contained the least energy per gram?
Which fuel contained the most energy per milliliter?
Which fuel contained the least energy per milliliter?
Which fuels put out the greatest amount of carbon particulates?
Which fuels put out the least amount of carbon particulates?
Why do you think some fuels put out a large amount of carbon
particulates while other fuels did not?
9. Think about torch fuel and ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Please compare
these two fuels. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using
each of these two fuels to power transportation vehicles?
10. Why is it important to know the number of calories per gram of a fuel?
11. Why is it important to know the number of calories per milliliter of a
fuel?
12. Of all the possible alternatives to gasoline, including natural gas, electricity,
hydrogen fuel cells, as well as all the fuels that we have studied in this lab, please
pick just one fuel and make an argument why it is the “most promising” fuel of the
future. Make sure to include both the positive aspects of the fuel you choose as
well as some of its negative aspects.
13. Please identify three ways in which energy was “lost” and not accounted for
during the running of this lab.
14. In step two you were asked to cool the water down using ice cubes. What is the
advantage of cooling the water down before heating it up?
15. In step three you were asked to put 300ml of cooled water into the aluminum can.
Why where you asked to use 300ml of water instead of 200ml or 50ml?
16. When you heated the water, why were you asked to heat it for 5 minutes instead
of 1 minute or 10 minutes?
17. Please identify three sources of error (other than energy loss) that may have
occurred during the lab that could have affected your results.
18. Did your overall results make sense, or where there some anomalies (an anomaly
is anything that does not fit an expected pattern) that you did not expect? If you
had some anomalies, why do you think that they occurred?
19. In some cases, the oil fuels (motor oil, vegetable oil) will start out with a normal
size flame which then diminishes during the burn time and sometimes goes out
completely. Why do the burners with oil have a tough time maintaining a regular
sized flame?
Conclusion
• Please write a summary paragraph that distills
the essential information that you learned
from conduction this lab.