Glossary

• Addition polymer


  Formed when unsaturated monomers link to form long chain
• Alkane


  Saturated hydrocarbons joined by single bonds (CnH2n+2)
• Alkene


  Unsaturated hydrocarbons joined by double bonds (CnH2n)
• Alcohol


  Molecule with combination of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms where one of the hydrogen atoms in a hydrocarbon chain is replaced by a -OH group
• Amino acid


  Building blocks of proteins. Organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sometimes sulfur atoms.
• Bromine water test


  Used to detect unsaturation (alkenes, alkynes). When an alkene/alkyne is added to bromine water it changes from orange/red-brown to colourless. It does not react with alkanes.
• Carboxylic acid


  Molecule made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen with a functional group made of a carbon atom double-bonded to an oxygen atom and single-bonded to a hydroxyl group. Acidic + sour taste. Found in foods like vinegar.
• Crude oil


  Finite fossil fuel, is a mixture of mostly hydrocarbons and found in porous rocks. Mixture of different compounds with many uses and we can separate them using fractional distillation.
• Formula


  Way of representing molecule using symbols of elements it contains and showing ratio of atoms present.
• Flammability


  How easily a substance can catch fire and burn. High flammability = can easily catch fire/burn, Low flammability = doesn't catch fire/burn easily
• Fractional distillation


  1. Heating: Mixture heated in container to vaporize components

  2. Vaporization: As mixture heated, component with lowest boiling point vaporizes first

  3. Fractionation Column: The vapors rise into fractionation column, (tall column filled with series of trays)

  4. Condensation: As vapors rise in column, they cool down. When they reach height where temperature is lower than their boiling point, they condense back into liquid form

  5. Collection: The condensed liquid collected at different heights in fractionation column. Components with lower boiling points condense at higher points, components with higher boiling points condense at lower points

  6. Separation: Collected liquid fractions then used. Process separates mixture into its individual components based on boiling points.
• Functional group


  Specific arrangement of atoms within molecule that's responsible for its chemical properties.
• Homologous series


  Group of related compounds that have similar structures + react in similar ways because they share same functional group but have different lengths of carbon chains.
• Hydrocarbon


  Compound consisting of only hydrogen and carbon atoms.
• Monomer


  Small molecule that can join together with other monomers to form a polymer through polymerization.
• Polymer


  Large molecule made up of small molecules called monomers.
• Thermal decomposition


  Chemical reaction in which compound breaks down into 2 or more substances when heated.
• Vaporise


  To convert substance from liquid/solid state into vapor/gas state (typically by heating).
• Viscosity


  How thick or thin a liquid is. High viscosity = thick + resistant to flow, Low viscosity = thin + flows easily