Alkanes, alkenes and plastics

• What are alkanes used for?

  As fuels
• What are alkenes used to make?

  Chemicals such as plastic
• What are polymers?

  Long chain molecules made from repeating units
• How do polymers occur in nature?

  They occur naturally in living things
• What is a homologous series?

  A family of compounds with similar properties
• What do hydrocarbons contain?

  Hydrogen and carbon only
• What happens to the boiling point of alkanes as chain length increases?

  It increases
• What is the general formula for alkanes?

  CnH2n+2
• How is the number of hydrogen atoms in an alkane determined?

  Double the number of carbon atoms, plus two
• What is methane's chemical formula?

  CH4
• What is ethane's chemical formula?

  C2H6
• How can alkane molecules be represented?

  By displayed formulae showing atoms and bonds
• What does it mean for alkanes to be saturated hydrocarbons?

  Carbon atoms are joined by single bonds
• What is combustion in relation to alkanes?

  Reaction with oxygen in the air
• What is isomerism in alkanes?

  Atoms arranged differently to form different compounds
• What are the key characteristics of alkanes?

  • They are saturated hydrocarbons
  • They have single bonds between carbon atoms
  • They follow the general formula C_nH_2n+2
  • They are relatively unreactive
• What are the key characteristics of alkenes?

  • They are unsaturated hydrocarbons
  • They contain at least one double bond
  • They can undergo addition reactions
• What are the uses of polymers?

  • Used in packaging
  • Used in textiles
  • Used in construction
  • Used in medical devices
• The first 3 alkanes

  
• What are alkanes used for?

  As fuels
• What are alkenes used to make?

  Chemicals such as plastic
• What are polymers?

  Long chain molecules occurring in living things
• How can polymers be made?

  By chemical processes in industry
• What is a homologous series?

  • A 'family' of organic compounds
  • Same functional group
  • Similar chemical properties
• What do hydrocarbons contain?

  Hydrogen and carbon only
• What characterizes alkenes?

  They contain a carbon-carbon double bond
• What is the general formula for alkenes?

  CnH2n
• What is the molecular formula of ethene?

  C2H4
• What is the molecular formula of propene?

  C3H6
• What are the isomers of butene?

  • But-1-ene: double bond with the first carbon
  • But-2-ene: double bond with the second carbon
• What does it mean for alkenes to be unsaturated?

  They contain a double bond
• Why are alkenes more reactive than alkanes?

  Due to the presence of a double bond
• What is an alkane?

  A saturated hydrocarbon
• What is a double bond?

  A covalent bond sharing four electrons
• What is the difference between alkanes and alkenes?

  Alkenes have double bonds, alkanes do not
• The first 3 alkenes

  
• What are alkanes used for?

  As fuels
• What are alkenes used to make?

  Chemicals such as plastic
• What are polymers?

  Long chain molecules made from repeating units
• How can polymers occur?

  Naturally in living things or chemically in industry