Organic Chemistry - Topic 7 Flashcards
What is a hydrocarbon?
A hydrocarbon is any compound that is formed from carbon and hydrogen atoms only.
What is a homologous series?
It is a group of organic compounds that react in a similar way.
What is the general formula for alkanes?
CnH2n+2
What is an alkane?
An alkane is a saturated hydrocarbon compound.
What does viscosity mean?
Viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow.
What does volatile mean?
Volatility describes how easily a substance will vaporise (turn into a vapour or gas) or condense.
What are the properties of hydrocarbons as the chain length increases?
- The shorter the carbon chain length, the more runny (less viscous) the hydrocarbon is.
- The shorter the carbon chain length, the more volatile the hydrocarbon is.
- The shorter the carbon chain length, the more flammable the hydrocarbon is.
What is the equation for complete and incomplete combustion?
complete: fuel + oxygen -> carbon dioxide + water
incomplete: fuel + oxygen -> carbon monoxide + carbon + water
What is crude oil formed from?
Crude oil is formed from the remains of plants and animals, mainly plankton, that died millions of years ago and were buried in mud.
How is coal formed?
- About 300 million years ago, the Earth was covered in lots of vegetation.
- Dead plants fell into swampy water, and the mud preserved them from rotting away.
- Over the years, the mud piled up and squashed the plant remains.
- After millions of years under pressure, the mud became rock and the plants became cold.
How is oil & gas formed?
- Millions of years ago, tiny animals lived in the sea.
- When they died, they fell into mud and sand at the bottom of the sea but did not rot away.
- Over millions of years, the animal remains were buried deeper by the mud and sand.
- The temperature and pressure changed the mud and sand into rock and dead animals into crude oil and natural gas.
What is organic chemistry?
Organic chemistry is a branch of chemistry that studies molecules containing carbon atoms
