Topic C7 - Organic Chemistry Flashcards
What is crude oil?
A mixture of hydrocarbons
A finite resource found in rocks and formed from dead plants and animals that have spent millions of years buried in mud
What is complete combustion?
An oxidation reaction that occurs when a fuel reacts with plenty of oxygen?
Why are hydrocarbons used as fuels?
Because combustion releases a lot of energy
What happens to the boiling point as the length of the hydrocarbon chain increases?
Boiling point increases
What happens to the viscosity as the length of the hydrocarbon chain increases?
Viscosity increases
What happens to the flammability as the length of the hydrocarbon chain increases?
Flammability Decreases
What is fractional distillation?
A process used to separate the hydrocarbons in crude oil into fractions according to their boiling points?
Where in the fractionating column do shorter hydrocarbons condense
Near the top, they have lower boiling points
Where in the fractionating column do longter hydrocarbons condense
Near the bottom, have higher boiling points
What are alkanes
Simplest type of hydrocarbons
Only 1 single covalent bond
Saturated
What is the general formula for the homologous series of alkanes?
CnH2n+2
What is cracking
Breaking down of long chain hydrocarbons into shorter more useful ones
What are alkenes used for?
To make polymers
A starting material for making other chemicals
What are the 2 types of cracking
Catalytic
Steam
What happens in catalytic cracking
Long chain hydrocarbons vapour used by heating
Hydrocarbon vapour is passed over a hot powdered aluminium catalyst
