Why burning certain fuels produces CO²?

Question

I couldn’t find information beyond: “Burning fossil fuels produces CO²” Apparently Fuels produces CO² because fuels produce CO²

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

Fuels that contain carbon, and are burnt produce CO2. So, pretty much anything you set on fire produces CO2, including fossil fuels, wood, and charcoal.

Let’s take charcoal as an example, because it’s pretty close to being pure carbon. When something burns, it reacts with oxygen in the atmosphere. That chemical reaction releases energy in the form of heat and light, and results in a new molecule. Oxygen molecules are two oxygen atoms. When charcoal burns, a carbon atom combines with two oxygen atoms to make carbon dioxide.

And that’s basically why. If a fuel contains carbon, that carbon will react with oxygen, and the result is carbon dioxide.