10.2

Question 1

what does catenation mean?

Answer 1

the ability to form bonds between atoms of the same element

Question 2

What can heterolytic fission produce?

Answer 2

ions

Question 3

what do the half arrows represent?

Answer 3

single electrons

Question 4

Why are alkanes unreactive?

Answer 4

• the carbon-hydrogen bonds are considered to be non-polar (or weakly polar) bonds bc of the small difference in electronegativity
• the c-c & c-h bonds are relatively strong covalent bonds -> this means that the alkanes are kinetically stable unless applied w enough energy to overcome the activation energy for the reaction

Question 5

what determines the type of combustion?

Answer 5

• the amount of oxygen present

- alkanes undergo complete combustion in the presence of excess oxygen

Question 6

what is homolytic fission?

Answer 6

when 2 electrons of a covalent bond are evenly split between 2 atoms resulting in 2 free radicals that have a single reaction

Question 7

what are the 3 steps of free-radical substitution?

Answer 7

• initiation
• propagation
• termination