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Hydrocarbons (Alkanes)
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An important class of binary compounds are the hydrocarbons.
As the name implies hydrocarbons consist of only hydrogen and
carbon atoms. There are thousands of possible hydrocarbon molecules.
However, the simplest type are called "alkanes". Alkanes
have the formula CnH2n+2, where n = 1,2,3 etc.. For example for
n=1 we have CH4, for n=2 we have C2H6 etc.. Naming these hydrocarbons
is simple:
- For n=1-4 the names have historical importance and must therefore
be memorized.
- For n > 4 the first part of the name gives the number
of carbon atoms (e.g., n=5 is pent-, n=6 is hex- etc.)
- the lastpart of the name ends with "- ane"
- Formula
- (state at room temperature)
|
Name |
|
| CH4 (gas) |
methane |
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| C2H6 (gas) |
ethane |
|
| C3H8 (gas) |
propane |
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| C4H10 (gas) |
butane |
|
| C5H12 (liquid) |
pentane |
pent = 5 |
| C6H14 (liquid) |
hexane |
hex = 6 |
| C7H16 (liquid) |
heptane |
hept = 7 |
| C8H18 (liquid) |
octane |
oct = 8 |
| C9H20 (liquid) |
nonane |
non = 9 |
| C10H22 (liquid) |
decane |
dec = 10 |
| C18H38 (solid) |
octadecane |
octadec =
18 |
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