Why is charcoal burning a chemical reaction

Wood is made of fiber cellulose and minerals metals. When wood is burned, oxygen and other elements in the air mainly carbon, hydrogen and oxygen react to form carbon dioxide that is released into the atmosphere, while the minerals turn into ashes. However when wood is burned in an oven with the flow of air stopped, oxygen inside is soon used up and is not enough to oxidize the carbon in the wood.

Thus the carbon is left to turn into charcoal. This is why when charcoal is burned, only carbon dioxide is released and there is neither smoke nor smell. What does organic mean? When both the oxygen molecule and the carbon atom have a net amount of molecular kinetic energy thermal energy greater than or equal to the activation energy, the reaction occurs. This tends to occur more often at higher temperatures, where molecules have higher amounts of kinetic energy.

At higher temperatures it is more likely that any set of reactants will have enough energy to break the bonds of oxygen and causing a rearrangement of the atoms from the reactants. This bond breakage and rearrangement converts chemical potential energy of the reactants into molecular kinetic energy of the products. This is due to the fact that the the atomic bonds of CO2 store less potential energy than those of O2.

When the bond energy is increased the products heat up due to an increased transfer of bond-energy to kinetic energy in the chemical reaction.

This additional kinetic energy added to this molecule may be enough to cause a chain reaction that leads to the burning of the charcoal. Pressing it also increases the temperature of the gas because temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules.

Charcoal will not burn if the total kinetic energy of the carbon atom and oxygen molecule that are set to react is lower than the activation energy.

This energy is converted and transferred into the kinetic energy of the products. Why does the average speed of the molecules speed up after a few chemical reactions, continue speeding up more quickly, then start to speed up less quickly as the time progresses? Here, charcoal burning in a grill would be a combustion reaction which produces carbon dioxide and water. Decaying plant : Another chemical reaction, because this reaction is non-reversible.

Also because the decomposition of the plant changes the chemical formulas of the compounds in the plant. Cutting vegetables : Physical, because no bonds are being formed or broken. Only the shape of the substance is changed. Melting butter : Physical. Butter is changing from a solid to a liquid here, but it's still butter—this means that no chemical changes are happening. Related questions How do I determine the molecular shape of a molecule?

What is the lewis structure for co2?