Hydrocarbons
These pictures show models of three different alkanes.
Carbon are represented by black balls and hydrogen is represented by white balls.
We will use these models to make the different alkanes and alkenes in future lessons.
What are hydrocarbons?
Crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons.
A hydrocarbon contains only hydrogen and carbon.
Carbon atoms can make 4 bonds so they can join together in many different ways.
The length of the chain can be from 1 to many hundreds
Crude oil
Crude oil is a liquid at room temperature but it is a mixture of hydrocarbons, some are gases and some are liquids.
It depends on the size of the molecules.
Crude oil is important source of:
- Fuels for vehicles, aircraft, ships, heating and power stations
- Raw materials for making other chemicals
Fossil fuels?
Fossil fuels are said to be:
Non-renewable: They are being used up faster than they are being made. They will run out one day if we continue to use them
Finite: They are not made any more (or are being made extremely slowly) limiting the amounts.
What to do next...
More help?
Message Mrs F or Mrs T
Complete worksheet
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