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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2009  > May  >
Chemistry for Everyone
Ethanol as an Alternative Fuel for Automobiles
Using the First Law of Thermodynamics To Calculate the "Corn-Area-per-Car" Ratio
William J. Pietro
Department of Chemistry, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada
Cover
May 2009
Vol. 86 No. 5
p. 579
Abstract
Students will use the first law of thermodynamics to determine the feasibility of using corn ethanol as an alternative to fossil fuels in automobiles. Energy flow is tracked from the Sun, to photosynthesized carbohydrate, to ethanol through fermentation, and finally to work in the combustion engine. Feasibility is gauged by estimating a "corn-area-per-car" ratio: the area of Earth on which sufficient corn must grow to support the energy needs of an average motor vehicle. This exercise requires students to gain an understanding of the thermochemistry of combustion, fermentation, and the energetics of photosynthesis through an issue of current environmental significance.
More Information
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Citation
Pietro, William J. J. Chem. Educ. 2009, 86, 579.
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Keywords
Applications of Chemistry; Bioenergetics; Biotechnology; Calorimetry / Thermochemistry; Elementary / Middle School Science; Environmental Chemistry; First-Year Undergraduate / General; Inquiry-Based / Discovery Learning; Physical Chemistry; Second-Year Undergraduate; Thermodynamics; Upper-Division Undergraduate
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History
Created:
Last Updated:
3/17/2009
3/24/2009
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