Cracking Crude Oil

Question 1

What does cracking mean?

Answer 1

means splitting up long-chain hydrocarbons by passing vapour over a hot catalyst

Question 2

What do long-chain hydrocarbons form? Useful?

Answer 2

Form thick, gloopy liquids like tar which aren’t very useful

Question 3

What are a lot of the longer molecules produced from fractional distillation done with?

Answer 3

They are turned into smaller molecules by cracking

Question 4

What substances does cracking produce? and what are they used for?

Answer 4

Mostly alkanes
Petrol (Car fuel) and Paraffin (Jet fuel)
Ethene for plastics

Question 5

What kind of reaction is cracking?

Answer 5

Thermal decomposition - breaking molecules down by heating them

Question 6

Describe the process of cracking

Answer 6

1) Heat the long-chain hydrocarbon to vaporise it (turn it into a gas)
2) The vapour is then passed over a powdered catalyst (aluminium oxide) at a temp of 400-700°C
3) The long chain loecules slpit apart on the surface of the specks of catalyst

Question 7

What are unsaturated hydrocarbons?

Answer 7

Alkenes