Crude Oils and Fuels

Cards (18)

What is a hydrocarbon?
compound containing carbon and hydrogen only
How is crude oil formed?
over millions of years from the remains of ancient biomass
What are the alkanes? 
hydrocarbons that only have single bonds
What are the first four alkanes? 
methane, ethane, propane, butane
What is the general formula for the alkanes? 
CnH2n+2
How does boiling point depend on the chain length?
longer the chain, higher the boiling point
How does flammability depend on chain length? 
longer the chain, lower the flammability
How can the different alkanes in crude oil be separated? 
Fractional Distillation
What is a fraction? 
a group of hydrocarbons with similar chain lengths
Name five useful fuels produced from fractional distillation. 
petrol, diesel oil, kerosene, heavy fuel oil, and liquefied petroleum gases
Name four useful materials produced from crude oil fractions
solvents, lubricants, polymers, detergents
What is cracking?
breaking down a hydrocarbon with a long chain into smaller molecules
Name two methods to carry out cracking.
steam cracking and catalytic cracking
What are the products of cracking?
short chain alkanes and alkenes
What are alkenes?
hydrocarbons with a double bond
What are alkenes used for? 
formation of polymers
Describe the reactivity of alkenes compared to alkanes.
alkenes are much more reactive
How can you test for alkenes?
alkenes turn orange bromine water colourless