Editing Methanol Cannon (section)

===Full Explanation===

Methyl alcohol (Methanol) is a simple alcohol with the form CH<sub>3</sub>OH. The "methyl" refers to the type of carbon group attached to the hydroxide, and by adding carbon groups we can get other alcohols such as:
{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; text-align: left; margin-right: auto"
| Methanol
or Methyl Alcohol
| Methyl = 1 || CH<sub>3</sub>--OH
|-
| Ethanol
or Ethyl Alcohol
| Ethyl = 2 || CH<sub>3</sub>--CH<sub>2</sub>--OH
|-
| Propanol
or Propyl Alcohol
| Propyl = 3 || CH<sub>3</sub>--CH<sub>2</sub>--CH<sub>2</sub>--OH
|-
| Isopropanol
or Isopropyl Alcohol
| Iso = Isomer
| CH<sub>3</sub>--CH--CH<sub>3</sub>
<span style=color:#ddd>CH<sub>3</sub>--</span>'''└'''OH
|}

Alcohols all share a few things in common. They are all ''Volatile'', or readily vaporize at room temperature. This is due to their vary low ''Heat Capacity'', as alcohols only need a small amount of heat to boil. Most importantly, alcohols are highly flammable, and when they burn they release a large amount of energy. This is largely due to how cleanly an alcohol fire burns:
{| class="wikitable" style="color:black; background-color:#ddd; text-align: left; margin-right: auto"
|+ Combustion of General Primary Alcohols
| RCH<sub>2</sub>OH + O<sub>2</sub> + Heat Source →
R: "Refers" to more CH<sub>n</sub>
| CO<sub>2</sub> + H<sub>2</sub>O + Heat Released
|}

Since the only products are CO<sub>2</sub>, H<sub>2</sub>O, and heat, this combustion reaction releases a lot of energy with next to no smoke production, and is able to burn quickly. This is why, in order to see the flame, we need to turn off the lights in the room! Since it burns so efficiently, there is no debris that can glow from the heat. Alcohol burns with a blue flame, but since it happens so quickly the flame is nearly impossible to see if the room is bright!

5 mL of methanol weighs about 4 grams, and methanol has an energy density of about 23 MJ/kg. Therefore, our little reaction releases about 90 kJ of energy, which is enough heat energy to make a single cup of tea! If the heat energy could all be converted into kinetic energy, it would be the energy needed for a 155 lb athlete to run at a 78 mph pace!

When ignited, we hear a definite ''Whoosh'' from the bottle, and if you watch carefully you may notice the flames inside the jug are spiraling. The sound is easy enough to identify: The air inside the jug is heating up quickly, which causes it to expand and rush out of the jug, causing the ''Whoosh''! However, there is a second part to the noise as well, and it is why the flames appear to spiral. The air that is escaping the jug is also pulling oxygen out with it. This means that the mixture inside the jug could lose some of the oxygen it needs to burn, and would end prematurely. What happens is that a ''Vortex'' forms at the mouth of the jug, allowing air to rush both ''into'' and ''out of'' the jug at same time! A vortex is when a fluid rotates around an axis, such as when you see a spiral of water in a drain. Vortexes allow matter to be transferred efficiently both ways, with one fluid going through the center and the other in the formed spiral. In this case, we see the flames form the spiral on the outside, allowing the heated, expanding air to move out. At the same time, cool, oxygen-rich air can move down the center of the vortex, into the combustion reaction to keep it going!