Organic Chemistry Flashcards
what is crude oil
a finite resource found in rocks.
- mixture of hydrocarbons
what are hydrocarbons
molecules that contain hydrogen and carbon atoms only.
what is crude oil made of
Formed over millions of years from the remains of tiny sea creatures called plankton, which were buried in the mud
formula for alkanes
CnH2n+2
what are the first four alkanes
- methane
- ethane
- propane
- butane
what are some of crude oil uses
- fuels such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, heavy fuel oi
solvents
lubricants
detergents
liquified petroleum gas
what is a homologous series
a family of organic compounds which have the same functional group and similar chemical properties
properties of alkanes
- have the same general formula
- show a gradual variation in physical properties, such as their boiling points
- have similar chemical properties
what are saturated hydrocarbons
hydrocarbons which have single carbon to carbon bonds, like alkanes
what technique is used to separate crude oil
fractional distillation
why is fractional distillation used
because different hydrocarbons have different boiling points
how does the distillation of crude oil work
- heated crude oil enters a tall fractionating column, which is hot at the bottom and gets cooler towards the top
- vapours from the oil rise through the column
- vapours condense when they become cool enough
- liquids are led out of the column at different heights
properties of smaller hydrocarbons
- weak intermolecular forces
- low boiling points
- they don’t condense, but leave the column as gases
- flammable
- low viscosity
what is fractional distillation used for
to separate different hydrocarbons
properties of larger hydrocarbons
- stronger intermolecular forces
- high boiling point
- they leave the column as hot liquid bitumen
- less flammable
what are useful mixtures called
fractions