Hydrocarbon - A compound that contains only hydrogen and carbon atoms.

Hydrocarbons generally react with oxygen in combustion reactions to yield water and carbon dioxide.

2 C₈H₁₈ + 25 O₂ 16 CO₂ + 18 H₂O

All hydrocarbons have prefixes that correspond to the number of carbon atoms in the compound by the following chart:

Alkanes

• Hydrocarbons that contain only single bonds.  Aka saturated hydrocarbons.
• Generic Formula:

C_nH_2n+2

Alkane Name             Formula Methane CH4 Ethane C2H6 Propane C3H8 Butane C4H10 Pentane C5H12

Butane

Alkenes

• Hydrocarbons that contain C=C double bonds.  Aka unsaturated hydrocarbons.
• Generic Formula:

C_nH_2n

Alkene Name       Formula Ethylene         C2H4 Propene C3H6 Butene C4H8 Pentene C5H10

Butene

• NOTE: Methene (CH₂) does not exist.

Alkynes

• Hydrocarbons that contain CC triple bonds.  These are also unsaturated hydrocarbons.
• Generic Formula:

C_nH_2n-2

Alkyne Name             Formula Ethyne C2H2 Propyne C3H4 Butyne C4H6 Pentyne C5H8

Butyne

Alcohols

• Organic compounds in which a hydrogen from an alkane is replaced with a hydroxide (OH) group.
• The suffix -ane is changed to -anol

Next:  "Stoichiometry:  Introduction"