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GCSE Chemistry · key term
Burning a fuel when there is not enough oxygen to oxidise all its carbon fully to carbon dioxide.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Specification 4.7.2.2, 4.9.3.1 · Paper 2
Combustion in which there is not enough oxygen for all the carbon to form carbon dioxide; it can produce carbon monoxide or carbon particles.
Combustion in a limited supply of oxygen, which can produce carbon monoxide, solid carbon and unburned fuel as well as water.
Specification 8.8, 8.10, 9.23C · Paper 2
Combustion in a limited supply of oxygen, in which a fuel is only partly oxidised.
Revise: Incomplete CombustionThe fuel then undergoes incomplete combustion.
Burning a fuel when there is not enough oxygen for it to burn completely.
Burning that occurs when the oxygen supply is insufficient, which can produce carbon monoxide.
Specification C6.3f · Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 4 (Higher)
Revise: Atmospheric PollutantsIncomplete combustion in vehicle engines or poorly ventilated fuel-burning appliances can therefore release CO.
Paper 1 (Foundation), Paper 2 (Foundation), Paper 3 (Higher), Paper 4 (Higher)
Combustion in which there is insufficient oxygen for all the fuel to be fully oxidised.
Revise: Pollutants from combustionTheir formation is controlled mainly by the high temperature and the nitrogen and oxygen in the air—not by incomplete combustion and not usually by nitrogen being present in the fuel.
Link cause to product explicitly: limited oxygen causes incomplete combustion, so the carbon is not fully oxidised to carbon dioxide and may form carbon monoxide or carbon instead.
Do not state that incomplete combustion produces only carbon monoxide or soot: water is also formed when the hydrogen in a hydrocarbon is oxidised.
Soot staining can indicate incomplete combustion, but it does not prove that carbon monoxide is present or absent.
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