Crude oil, Hydrocarbons, and Alkankes

• Crude oil is a resource found in rocks.
• It is the remains of ancient biomass consisting mainly of plankton that was buried in mud
• Crude oil is a mixture of a very large number of compounds.
• Most of the compounds in crude oil are hydrocarbons, which are molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms only
• Most of the hydrocarbon in crude oil are hydrocarbons called alkanes
• the general formula for the homologous series of alkanes id C(2)H(2n+2)
• The first four members of the alkanes are methane ethane propane and butane