AScienceStudent

Thanks for your reply Mr Skeptic. Does that mean if a spoon of carbon soot is collected then I could burn it with a bunsen burner to give out heat and light? Thanks again

Hi all I was wondering if we could burn carbon soot and get energy out of it. I learnt that burning hydrocarbons with insufficient oxygen produces carbon monoxide and carbon soot. Incomplete combustion. What is it in hydrocarbons that make them give out so much energy when we burn it? Is carbon the answer? Thank you

Thanks for your replies, big314mp and Gilded. Too bad the text book defines element in such a way. I better look up for better definitions next time.

Hi all I am going through covalent molecular substances right now and there is a point that I don't quite get. It says 'covalent molecular substances can be elements (e.g. iodine, phosphorus and sulfur) as well as compounds.' Take iodine I[math]_{2}[/math] for example, it is all very well that a covalent bond exists between two atoms of iodine. However, the definition for element goes 'an element is a pure substance which cannot be decomposed into simpler substances'. My question is: Is it not true that iodine can be decomposed into 2 iodine atoms, that is, into simpler substances? Thank you