Organic chemistry Flashcards
Crude oil is a mixture of what?
Very large number of compounds
What are most of the compounds in crude oil?
Hydrocarbons
How can the hydrocarbons be separated?
They can be separated into fractions, each of which contains a similar amount of carbon atoms, by evaporating the oil and allowing it to condense at a number of different temperatures. This process is called fractional distillation
(look at book for diagram)
Most of the Hydrocarbons in crude oil are saturated what are they called?
Alkanes
What is the general formula alkanes?
Cn H2n+2
what are all of the bonds in a saturated Hydrocarbon?
All the bonds are single covalent bond
How else can Alkanes been shown?
C2H6 or
H H
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H—————C————C—————H
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H H
What do we know that changes as the hydrocarbons get bigger?
The boiling points increase
The viscosity increases
The flammability decreases and they give of a lot more smoke
How do you name the Alkanes?
- METHANE
- ETHANE
- PROPANE
- BUTANE
- PENTANE
- HEXANE
- HEPTANE
- OCTANE
- NONANE
- DECANE
So what would an alkane with 6 carbon atoms and 14 hydrogen atoms be called?
Hexane
What would an alkane be called with 1 carbon atom be called?
METHANE
What are Alkanes usually used for?
Fuels
What are some of the advantages of using a biofuel?
- they are renewable
- they do not have a big affect on the environment
- They have a low carbon foot print
Can hydrocarbons be broken down further?
Yes it is called cracking. This involves using a lot of heat to vaporise them. The vapours are then passed over a catalyst so the thermal decomposition can occur
What are the products of cracking?
Alkanes and unsaturated hydrocarbons