Combustion Process - Continued.

Combustion of Carbon

As noted in the above figure, for complete combustion the following reaction takes place:

One atom of carbon combines with two atoms of oxygen to produce one molecule of carbon dioxide.

We can write the same equation in terms of atomic weights.

12 + 32 = 44 (using atomic weight of entities)

Dividing all quantities by 12 we get:

12/12 + 32/12 = 44/12

We simplify the above to get:

1 + 2.67 = 3.67

In other words, one pound of carbon reacts with 2.67 pounds of oxygen to yield 3.67 pounds of carbon dioxide.