Final answer:
Burning 2 kg of wood, assuming that wood is 50% carbon by weight, would produce approximately 3.67 kg of CO₂, given that burning carbon forms CO₂ and taking into account the mass ratio between carbon and CO₂.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how much CO₂ is produced by burning 2kg of wood, it is essential to know the chemical composition of the wood and the specific combustion process involved. However, wood is generally composed of 50% carbon by weight. When wood burns, the carbon combines with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (CO₂). The general reaction for burning carbon in wood can be represented as:
C + O₂ → CO₂
Since the molar mass of carbon is approximately 12 g/mol and that of CO₂ is approximately 44 g/mol, each gram of carbon will produce nearly 3.67 grams (44/12) of CO₂ when completely burned. Assuming that wood is 50% carbon, 1 kg of wood would contain 0.5 kg of carbon. Therefore, when 2 kg of wood is burned, 1 kg of carbon would be ingested.
1 kg of carbon × 3.67 (CO₂ to carbon mass ratio) = 3.67 kg of CO₂
Thus, burning 2 kg of wood would theoretically produce approximately 3.67 kg of CO₂ assuming complete combustion and that all carbon content in the wood is converted to CO₂.