Do internal combustion engines destroy oxygen molecules when producing carbon dioxide?
I know they produce CO2 but I wasn't sure if they destroyed oxygen molecules in order to do so.
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Let's clarify.
It is the bonds between the oxygen atoms in the molecule (O2) that are broken. The bonds between the atoms in the petroleum are also broken. The bonds then reform to form the products CO2(g) + H2O(g). The energy required to break the bonds is less than the energy required to rfeorm them, hence combustion is exothermic and the extra energy is transferred to the surroundings as heat.
The only processes which 'break' atomic nuclei are in particle accelerators and nuclear fission.
the gas combines with O2 in an oxidation, that results in a large bang and recombines the Carbon and Hydrogen of the gas with the Oxygen of the air forming CO2 and H2O.
For instance using Octane, CH3(CH2)6CH3 burned in Air or in an engine will create 8 C02 and 9 H2O molecules. The Oxygen is not actually destroyed as it still exists in the Carbon Dioxide and the Water.
Yes of course. CO2 does not have an O-O bond, and oxygen does, so the oxygen molecule is indeed destroyed. As the previous response indicated, however, the atoms are not. They are just recombined in different ways.
Short of Nuclear Fission and particle accelerators there is no way to actually "destroy" an atom. Hence, no the oxygen is not actually destroyed. It just changes form by combining with carbon.
Yes, they Do!
CH4 + 2O2 = CO2 + 2H2O