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GCSE Chemistry · key term
Burning in sufficient oxygen so that a hydrocarbon produces carbon dioxide and water.
Used by AQA and Edexcel
Specification 4.7.1.3, 4.9.3.1 · Paper 2
Burning in sufficient oxygen to oxidise all the carbon in a hydrocarbon to carbon dioxide and its hydrogen to water.
Combustion in a plentiful supply of oxygen, so the carbon and hydrogen in a hydrocarbon are fully oxidised to carbon dioxide and water.
Specification 8.7, 9.16C, 9.28C · Paper 2
The reaction of a fuel with sufficient oxygen so that a hydrocarbon forms carbon dioxide and water.
Revise: Complete CombustionComplete combustion also gives out energy, so it is an exothermic reaction. Some of the energy heats the surroundings and may also be transferred as light from the flame. This energy transfer is why hydrocarbons are useful as fuels—for example, they can provide heating or power engines.
A reaction with enough oxygen in which a hydrocarbon produces carbon dioxide and water, giving out energy.
A reaction in which a substance burns in a plentiful supply of oxygen.
Burning in enough oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water.
If the question specifies complete combustion, the only products to write are carbon dioxide and water.
Do not assume that an alkene's carbon–carbon double bond changes the products of complete combustion: alkanes and alkenes both form carbon dioxide and water.
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