• Hydrocarbons?are compounds containing hydrogen and carbon only
• There are four families of hydrocarbons you should know:?alkanes, alkenes, alkynes?and?arenes
  • Alkanes, alkenes and alkynes can be described as?aliphatic
  • Arenes can be described as?aromatic
• Alkanes have the general molecular formula?CnH2n+2
• They contain only?single bonds?and are said to be?saturated
• Alkanes are named using the nomenclature rule?alk + ane
  • The?alk?portion of the name depends on the number of carbons
    • 1 carbon = meth
    • 2 carbons = eth
    • 3 carbons = prop
    • 4 carbons = but
    • 5 carbons = pent
    • After 5 carbons, the naming of alkanes matches the names of the polygons in Maths
  • ?The?ane?portion of the name suggests single bonds between the carbon atoms

The First Six Members of the Alkane Family

• Alkanes can be linear, branched or cyclic
  • The key points are that there are no functional groups and only single bonds between the carbon atoms

Alkanes are compounds made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms only and contain no functional group