Question

How is burning magnesium different than burning methane

Answer 1

You can stop the burning of methane with water or carbon dioxide extinguishers but problems arise when you try to use this to stop the burning of the magnesium.

Explanation:

To burn magnesium (Mg) and methane (CH₄) you need to react them with oxygen:

2 Mg (s) + O₂ (g) → 2 MgO + heat

CH₄ (g) + 2  O₂ (g) → CO₂ (g) + 2 H₂O (g) + heat

However at that temperatures magnesium (Mg) is able to react with water (H₂O) and carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Mg (s) + 2 H₂O (l) → Mg(OH)₂ (s) + H₂ (g)

2 Mg (s) + CO₂ (g) → 2 MgO (s) + C (s)

So the safe option to stop the burning of the magnesium is to limit the oxygen in the air.

we have used the following notations:

(s) - solid

(g) - gas

(l) - liquid

Learn more about:

combustion reactions

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