Cracking

• what is cracking?

  when large hydrocarbons are thermally broken down into smaller and useful molecules
• what type of reaction is cracking?

  thermal decomposition
• what are the conditions for cracking?

  reactant heated to vapor, passed over a hot catalyst (catalytic cracking) or heated to vapor, mixed with steam and heated to high temperatures (steam cracking)
• how are the products of cracking used?

  products are alkanes and alkenes - used as polymers and starting materials for synthesis