Hydrocarbons

• Hydrocarbons - any compound that's formed from carbon and hydrogen only.
• Carbon can have 4 strong bonds, bonding to either carbon or hydrogen atoms
• Methane - CH4
• Ethane - C2H6
• Propane - C3H8
• Butane - C4H10
• Each alkane grows by 1 carbon and 2 hydrogens each time
• Alkanes are 'saturated compounds' - every carbon atom has 4 single covalent bonds
• Homologous series - a group of molecules that have similar properties, which means they react in similar way
• Isomers - molecules that have the same molecular formula but different structural formulae.