Question

Compare and contrast the combustion of methane and the combustion of hydrogen in 2-3 complete sentences.

Answer 1

Combustion reaction : The combustion means burning. It is defined as the reaction in which a hydrocarbon react with oxygen in the presence of air to give carbon dioxide and water vapor as a product.

The combustion of methane gives carbon dioxide and water vapor as a product but the combustion of hydrogen gives water vapor as a product.

The balanced combustion reaction of methane will be:

`CH_4(g)+O_2(g)\rightarrow CO_2(g)+H_2O(g)`

The balanced combustion reaction of hydrogen will be:

`H_2(g)+O_2(g)\rightarrow H_2O(g)`

Answer 2

Methane is an alkane containing carbon and hydrogen atom; Its combustion produces only water and carbon dioxide. The combustion of hydrogen on the other hand yields water only.
Using the reactions;
For methane CH4(g)+ O2(g) = 2CO2(g) +2 H2O(l)
For hydrogen; 2H2(g)+ O2(g) = 2H2O(l)