Organic Chemistry Flashcards
What is crude oil?
Crude oil is a finite resource found in rocks. Crude oil is the remains of an ancient biomass consisting mainly of plankton that was buried
in mud.
What compounds make up crude oil?
Crude oil is a mixture of a very large number of compounds. Most of
the compounds in crude oil are hydrocarbons, which are molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms only.
What are most of the hydrocarbons in crude oil called?
Most of the hydrocarbons in crude oil are hydrocarbons called alkanes. The general formula for the homologous series of alkanes is CnH2n+2
What are the first four alkanes?
The first four members of the alkanes are methane, ethane,
propane and butane.
How are hydrocarbons in crude oil made into fractions?
The many hydrocarbons in crude oil may be separated into fractions, each of which contains molecules with a similar number of
carbon atoms, by fractional distillation.
What can hydrocarbon fractions be used for?
The fractions can be processed to produce fuels and feedstock for the petrochemical industry.
What fuels are produced from crude oil?
Many of the fuels on which we depend for our modern lifestyle, such as petrol, diesel oil, kerosene, heavy fuel oil and liquefied
petroleum gases, are produced from crude oil.
What are materials are produced by petrochemical industries?
Many useful materials on which modern life depends are produced by the petrochemical industry, such as solvents, lubricants, polymers, detergents.
How do natural and synthetic carbon compounds occur?
The vast array of natural and synthetic carbon compounds occur due to the ability of carbon atoms to form families of similar compounds.
What does the combustion of hydrocarbons do?
The combustion of hydrocarbon fuels releases energy. During combustion, the carbon and hydrogen in the fuels are oxidised. The
complete combustion of a hydrocarbon produces carbon dioxide and water.
What are the properties of long hydrocarbons ?
What are the properties of short hydrocarbons?
What is cracking?
Hydrocarbons can be broken down (cracked) to produce smaller, more useful molecules.
How can cracking be done?
Cracking can be done by various methods including catalytic cracking and steam cracking.
What are products of carbon?
The products of cracking include alkanes and another type of hydrocarbon called alkenes.
