Lecture on Hydrocarbons and Alkanes

Introduction to Organic Chemistry

• Organic chemistry focuses on compounds containing carbon.
• Carbon is essential for creating large compounds due to its ability to form four strong bonds.
• Common bonding elements: other carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms.

Hydrocarbons

• Definition: Compounds formed only from carbon and hydrogen.
• Example:
  • Butane is a hydrocarbon.
  • Butanol is not a hydrocarbon (contains oxygen).

Alkanes

• Simplest form of hydrocarbons.
• Key characteristics:
  • Saturated compounds: all carbon atoms have four single covalent bonds.
  • No double bonds present.
• First four alkanes in the series:
  1. Methane (\text{(CH}_4\text{)})
     • One carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms.
  2. Ethane (\text{(C}_2\text{H}_6\text{)})
     • Two carbon atoms, six hydrogen atoms.
  3. Propane (\text{(C}_3\text{H}_8\text{)})
     • Three carbon atoms, eight hydrogen atoms.
  4. Butane (\text{(C}4\text{H}{10}\text{)})
     • Four carbon atoms, ten hydrogen atoms.
• Growth pattern: Each successive alkane increases by one carbon and two hydrogens.
• Homologous Series: Organic compounds with similar properties and reactivity._

General Formula for Alkanes

• Formula: (\text{C}n\text{H}{2n+2})
  • (n) represents the number of carbon atoms.
  • Determines the number of hydrogen atoms.
• Example:
  • Propane ((n=3)): (\text{C}_3\text{H}_8)
  • Octane ((n=8)): (\text{C}8\text{H}{18})

Conclusion

• Alkanes are saturated compounds with only single bonds.
• Introducing a double bond changes the compound to an alkene.
• Future topics will cover properties of alkanes and combustion equations.
• Stay tuned for more videos on alkanes and their properties.