Does this data violate the conservation of matter?

Question

I found data that indicates the carbon emissions of a ton of coal are on average 2.3 tons CO2 per ton of coal. Is it possible to have great emissions than the original mass?

Answer 1

Yes, remember that the coal doesn't spontaneously burn, it requires oxygen.  Add the mass of oxygen and the mass of the coal and you will get the total emissions.

Answer 2

The extra weight is added by the oxygen atoms from the atmosphere which are chemically bonded to carbon atoms during the combustion of the coal. In short, the extra weight is added from atoms in the air.

Answer 3

Yes, it's very possible that 1 ton of coal creates 2.3 tons of carbon dioxide.  Coal is mainly carbon.  Each carbon atom has an atomic weight of 12.0107.   But each oxygen atom has a weight of 15.9994.

Each atom from that ton of coal is picking up two oxygen atoms OUTSIDE the ton of coal, from the air all around us, when burned, so (assuming an efficient process that produces CO2 and not the deadly carbon monoxide CO),  each atom of weight 12.0107 becomes a molecule of weight 12.0107 + 2*15.9994 = 44.009.  

So 1 ton of C becomes 44.009/12.0107 = 3.6664 tons of CO2.

But this assumes efficient burning, and assumes that coal were pure carbon.  Since it is not (and you find a lot of ash left after burning some coal), they may have worked out a practical figure much less than 3.66 tons, like one ton of coal of average quality creates 2.3 tons of CO2.

Answer 4

The actual biproduct is carbon, which combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form CO2.  The atomic mass of carbon is 12 and oxygen is 16, so you're more than tripling the mass of the carbon when CO2 is formed.  That's how the mass of CO2 can exceed the mass of coal.