Organic Chemistry Flashcards
What is Crude Oil?
Crude oil is a finite resource found in rocks made up of the remains of an ancient biomass consisting mainly of plankton that was buried in mud.
Describe how fractional distillation works
Crude oil is separated into fractions using fractional distillation. The crude oil is fed into the fractioning column which gets cooler as it goes up. The gases rise and then condense into liquid once they reach the level that is their boiling point. The fuels produced include Petroleum, Gasoline, Kerosene, Diesel, etc.
How is viscosity affected by the length of the molecules in hydrocarbons?
The longer the molecule, the more viscous it is
How is the boiling point affected by the length of the molecules in hydrocarbons?
The longer the molecule, the higher its boiling point
How is flammability affected by the length of the molecules in hydrocarbons?
The longer the molecule, the less flammable it is.
What is cracking?
Hydrocarbons can be cracked to produce smaller, more useful molecules. This can be done either by passing them over a hot catalyst (catalytic cracking) or mixing them with steam and heating so thermal decomposition reactions can occur (steam cracking)
What is the test for the presence of alkenes
Alkenes react with bromine water, turning it from orange to colourless
Describe the structure of alkenes
Alkenes are hydrocarbons with a double carbon-carbon bond. They have the general formula CnH2n. They are unsaturated because they contain two fewer hydrogen atoms than the alkane with the same number of carbon atoms.
Name the first four Alkanes
Methane - CH4
Ethane - C2H6
Propane - C3H8
Butane - C4H10
Name the first four Alkenes
Ethene - C2H4
Propene - C3H6
Butene - C4H8
Pentene - C5H10
Name the first four Alcohols
Methanol - CH3OH
Ethanol - C2H5OH
Propanol -C3H8OH
Butanol - C4H10OH
Name the first four Carboxylic Acids
Methanoic Acid - CH2O2
Ethanoic Acid - C2H2O2
Propanoic Acid - C3H6O2
Butanoic Acid -C4H8O2
List some of the reactions of alcohols
- They burn in air which produces carbon dioxide and water
- They dissolve in water to form a neutral solution
- They react with sodium to produce hydrogen and a salt
- They react with oxidising agents to form carboxylic acids
What are the main uses of the alcohols
Methanol: chemical feedstock
Ethanol: alcoholic drinks
All 4: fuel
How is ethanol produced?
Ethanol is produced by fermenting sugar with yeast and an enzyme catalyst at about 35C.