Question

Write the name of various types of coal and give the percentage of carbon in each one of them?

Answer 1

Hint: There are four different types of coal. They are peat, lignite, bituminous coal and anthracite. Peat is a precursor to coal. Another name of Lignite coal is brown coal. Bituminous coal has high heating (Btu) value. Anthracite is also called hard coal.

Complete answer:
Peat is a precursor to coal. It is a soft organic material and contains partly decayed plant and deposited mineral matter. On application of peat, it becomes coal.
Lignite coal is also called brown coal. It has the least concentration of carbon. It is the lowest grade coal.
Bituminous coal has high heating value. It is used in the generation of electricity. It appears smooth and shiny. However, it has layers.
Anthracite is hard and brittle. It has black lustre. It is also called hard coal. It has a high percentage of fixed carbon and low percentage of volatile matter.
Summarize the different types of coal and the percentage of carbon in each one of them, in the following table.

Type of coal	The percentage of carbon
Peat	\[28%\]
Lignite	\[28%\text{ }to\text{ }30%\]
Bituminous coal	\[78%\text{ }to\text{ }86%\]
Anthracite	\[94%\text{ }to\text{ }98%\]

Note: Allotropes of carbon such as graphite or lamp black are different from coal. On the basis of carbon content, different types of coal can be arranged in the decreasing order of carbon content as anthracite > bituminous coal > lignite. Anthracite is the cleanest and best type of coal and has the highest carbon content.