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Old 08-13-2007, 05:10 PM   #21
SaabTuner
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: SoCal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Homemade WRX View Post
It carries its own oxygen into the combustion ...
This part is a bit pointless. Technically, water "carries more oxygen" into the combustion chamber than methanol, given than, per unit mass (or volume), it HAS more oxygen.

What it does NOT carry is a large number of weakly-bonded hydrogen atoms- that's why it doesn't burn in air: the bonds of the combustion products would be weaker, and thus the process would require energy, instead of releasing energy.

That's what drives combustion, and energy release- the conversion of substances with weak bonds into substances with strong bonds. Water has VERY strong bonds, and so does Carbon Dioxide, but Methanol does not.

Chemistry (and molecular enthalpies) FTW.

-Adrian
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