Organic chemistry Flashcards
How is crude oil created
Remains of an ancient biomass consisting of plankton that was buried in mud
What is crude oil
A mixture of molecules called hydrocarbons
What are hydrocarbons
Molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms
What’s the general formula of alkanes
Cn H2n+2
Why are alkanes saturated molecules
Because carbon atoms are fully bonded to Hydrogen atoms
What is viscosity
The thickness of A fluid
What is a high viscosity
When a fluid moves slowly
What happens to viscosity as the size of hydrocarbon molecules increase
The molecules get more viscous
What happens to the flammability of hydrocarbon molecules as they increase
The molecules get less flammable
As the size of hydrocarbon molecules increase what happens To the boiling point
The boiling point increases
What do hydrocarbon fuels do when combusted
Release energy
What happens in fractional distillation
Crude oil is separated into fractions
What’s the first stage of fractional distillation
The hydrocarbons are heated
What’s the second stage of fractional distillation
The crude oil vapour is now fed into the fractional distillation Column
What’s the third stage of fractional distillation
The hydrocarbon vapours rise up the columns
What’s the fourth stage of fractional distillation
The hydrocarbons condense when they reach the boiling point
What is used in catalytic cracking
High temperature and a catalyst
What is used in steam Cracking
High temperature and steam