Organic Chemistry Flashcards
Hydrocarbons are……
Hydrocarbons are organic molecules made up only Hydrogens and carbons atom
Alkanes are a …….
Alkanes are a type of hydrocarbons where all the carbon atoms are bonded by single bonds.
What is the rule for the formula of alkanes
Alkanes are saturated what does this mean
they contain single bonds
What are the first four alkanes
Methane
Ethane
Propane
Butane
The shorter the carbon chain …
The more runny the hydrocarbon is
Less viscous
More volatile - they have power boiling points
More flammable
They are also stored under pressure as liquide in bottles
What is the equation for complete combustion
Hydrocarbon + oxygen -> carbon dioxide + water (+energy)
What happens to the hydrocarbon and Carbon during the combustion
Oxidises
How is crude oil made
Crude oil is a fossil fuel. Made of remains of plants and animals mainly PLANKTON.
what conditions allow the crude oil to be formed in the ground
High temperature and pressure
What is crude oil made of ?
Lots of different hydrocarbons most of which are alkanes
How are different compounds in crude oil separated
Fractional distillation
How does fractional distillation work ?
The oil is heated until most of it is turned into gas. The gas enter a fractioning column.
There is a temperature gradient in the column ( it’s hot at the bottom and cold at the top)
Longer hydrocarbons have higher boiling points. They condense back to liquids and drain out of the column early on when they’re near the bottom.
Shorter hydrocarbons have lower boiling points meaning they condense and drain out much earlier on - near to the top of the column where it is cooler
You end up with the crude oil mixture in different fractions. Which all contain the similar amount of Carbons so have similar boiling points in each fraction
What various uses does crude oil have
Fuel for Most modern transport
Feedstock to make new compounds for use in things like polymers, solvents, lubricants and detergents
What does cracking mean
Splitting up Long chains hydrocarbons