Formulae of carbon compounds

• What is organic chemistry?

  The study of carbon compounds
• What is a hydrocarbon?

  A compound made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms.
• What does saturated mean?

  Contains single carbon-carbon bonds only
• What does unsaturated mean?

  Contains a C=C double bond
• What does molecular formula show?

  The actual number of each type of atom
• What does empirical formula show?

  The simplest whole number ratio of atoms of each element in the compound.
• What is the general formula?

  algebraic formula for a homologous series
• What is the structural formula?

  shows the minimal detail that shows the arrangement of atoms in a molecule.
• What is the displayed formula?

  shows all the covalent bonds ad atoms present in a molecule
• What is the skeletal formula?

  shows the simplified organic formula, shown by removing hydrogen atoms from alkyl chains, leaving just a carbon skeleton and associated functional groups
• What are homologous series?

  A series of organic compounds with the same functional group and same general formula, they have similar chemical propertie.
• What is a functional group?

  A functional group is a specific group of atoms within a molecule that is responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions and properties of that molecule.
• What is homolytic fission?

  The breaking of a covalent bond where each atom retains one electron.
• What is a free radical?

  An atom or molecule with an unpaired electron.
• What are isomers?

  Isomers are molecules that have the same molecular formula but different structural arrangements or spatial orientations.