From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ahydrocarbon is a type ofchemical compound. It is made of onlyhydrogen andcarbonatoms.They can be found incrude oil and are separated byfractional distillation (which means they are separated into different groups). The hydrogen and carbon are bonded with non-polar covalent bonds. Because of its lack ofpolar covalent bonds, hydrocarbons cannot create hydrogen bonds with water and arehydrophobic.
Hydrocarbons are grouped into "families" or "homologous series". There are five main families. The hydrocarbons in each family have a general formula and similar chemical properties, and similar trends in physical properties. This system was approved in 1892 by the International Congress of Chemists, meeting inGeneva.
Alkenes are similar toalkanes. The main difference between them is that alkenes have a carbon to carbon double bond. The general formula for the alkenes is CnH2n.
Alkene Name
Formula
Ethene
C2H4
Propene
C3H6
Butene
C4H8
Pentene
C5H10
Hexene
C6H12
Heptene
C7H14
Octene
C8H16
Nonene
C9H18
Decene
C10H20
Note that there is no "Methene". Methene is not possible as alkenes require a carbon-carbon double bond andmethane only has one carbon atom.
Cycloalkanes areisomers ofalkenes. They have the same general formula (CnH2n), the only difference is that they do not have a carbon to carbon double bond.
Cycloalkane Name
Formula
Cyclopropane
C3H6
Cyclobutane
C4H8
Cyclopentane
C5H10
Cyclohexane
C6H12
Cycloheptane
C7H14
Cycloctane
C8H16
Cyclononane
C9H18
Cyclodecane
C10H20
Note thatethene does not have a cycloalkane as it can only form a straight line.
Alkadienes have two carbon to carbon double bonds. Their general formula is CnH2n-2. They are isomers ofalkynes.
In a similar manner, there can also exist alkatriene (three carbon to carbon bonds) and other forms. The versatile nature of Carbon's chemistry allows for a nearly infinite number of configurations and compounds.
Aromatic hydrocarbons are aromatic organic molecules that form flat ring-shaped bonds. The most simplest of aromatic hydrocarbons arebenzene and indole. They can have one ring,heterocyclic, likebenzene or 2 rings,bicyclic like napthalene (primaryingredient in mothballs) or many rings,polycyclic like anthracene (red dye colourant).Their general formula is CnH2n-6, where n is a number greater than or equal to 6.
