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What are alkanes?
The alkanes are a homologous series of hydrocarbons
with the general formula CnH2n+2 and names ending –ane.
Alkanes contain only single carbon–carbon bonds and so
are saturated.
No. of Molecular Name
carbon atoms formula
1 CH4 methane
2 C2H6 ethane
3 C3H8 propane
4 C4H10 butane
5 C5H12 pentane
6 C6H14 hexane
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Alkanes and isomersim
Alkanes with four or more carbon atoms display structural
isomerism because the carbon chain may be either
straight or branched.

pentane: 2-methylbutane:
straight chain branched chain
The naming of alkanes depends on whether they are
straight or branched.

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Naming branched chain alkanes

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Naming the alkanes activity

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Trends in boiling points

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Trends in boiling points
The boiling point of straight-chain alkanes increases with
chain length due to increasing van der Waals forces
between molecules.

As the length of the chain increases,

so does its surface area, and so the
van der Waals forces are stronger.

Branched-chain alkanes have lower

boiling points because the chains
cannot pack as closely together.
There are fewer points of contact
between molecules so the van der
Waals forces are weaker.
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Crude oil and alkanes
Crude oil is a mixture composed mainly of straight and
branched chain alkanes.

It also includes lesser amounts of cycloalkanes and arenes,

both of which are hydrocarbons containing a ring of carbon
atoms, as well as impurities such as sulfur compounds.

The exact composition of

crude oil depends on the
conditions under which it
formed, so crude oil
extracted at different
locations has different
compositions.

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Fractional distillation

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Uses of fractions

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Fractions and boiling point

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Supply and demand
The demand for lower boiling
point (shorter chain) fractions is
greater than the proportion
found in crude oil.

Crude oil contains more higher

boiling point (longer chain)
fractions, which are in lower
demand and are less
economically valuable.

There is therefore a shortage of

shorter chain fractions and a
surplus of longer chain ones.

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What is cracking?
Cracking is a process that splits long chain alkanes into
shorter chain alkanes, alkenes and hydrogen.

C10H22 → C7H16 + C3H6

Cracking has the following uses:

 it increases the amount of gasoline and other
economically important fractions
 it increases branching in chains, an important factor
for petrol
 it produces alkenes, an important feedstock for chemicals.
There are two main types of cracking: thermal and catalytic.

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Thermal cracking

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Catalytic cracking

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Thermal vs. catalytic cracking
Catalytic cracking has several advantages over thermal
cracking:
 it produces a higher proportion of branched alkanes, which
burn more easily than straight-chain alkanes and are
therefore an important component of petrol
 the use of a lower temperature and pressure mean it is
cheaper
 it produces a higher proportion of arenes, which are
valuable feedstock chemicals.

However, unlike thermal cracking, catalytic cracking

cannot be used on all fractions, such as bitumen, the
supply of which outstrips its demand.

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Other products from cracking
Alkenes such as ethene are always produced in cracking.
They are an important feedstock for use in the chemical
industry, particularly in the production of plastics.

Arenes such as benzene

are also produced during
catalytic cracking.
Benzene is added in small
quantities to petrol as a
replacement for the lead
compounds. It too is now
the subject of health
concerns, and its use is
being reduced.

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Cracking: true or false?

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Complete combustion
In excess oxygen, short chain alkanes can undergo
complete combustion:

alkane + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water

For example:

propane + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water

C3H8(g) + 5O2(g) → 3CO2(g) + 4H2O(g)

The combustion of alkanes is a highly exothermic process.

This makes them good fuels because they release a
relatively large amount of energy per gram of fuel.

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Incomplete combustion
If oxygen is limited then incomplete combustion will occur:

alkane + oxygen → carbon monoxide + water

alkane + oxygen → carbon + water

For example:

propane + oxygen → carbon monoxide + water

C3H8(g) + 3½O2(g) → 3CO(g) + 4H2O(g)

propane + oxygen → carbon + water

C3H8(g) + 2O2(g) → 3C(s) + 4H2O(g)

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The internal combustion engine: carbon
Alkanes with chain lengths of 5–10 carbon atoms are used
as fuels in internal combustion engines.
This releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere:

nonane + oxygen → carbon dioxide + water

C9H20(g) + 14O2(g) → 9CO2(g) + 10H2O(g)

Although modern internal combustion engines are more

efficient than in the past, incomplete combustion still occurs:

nonane + oxygen → carbon monoxide + water

2C9H20(g) + 19O2(g) → 18CO(g) + 20H2O(g)

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The internal combustion engine: nitrogen
The temperature in an internal combustion engine can
reach over 2000 °C. Here, nitrogen and oxygen, which at
normal temperatures don’t react, combine to form
nitrogen monoxide:

N2(g) + O2(g) → 2NO(g)

Nitrogen monoxide reacts further forming nitrogen dioxide:

2NO(g) + O2(g) → 2NO2(g)

Nitrogen dioxide gas reacts with rain water and more oxygen
to form nitric acid, which contributes to acid rain:

4NO2(g) + 2H2O(l) + O2(g) → 4HNO3(aq)

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The catalytic converter

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Sulfur contamination of fossil fuels
Sulfur is found as an impurity in crude oil and other fossil
fuels. It burns in oxygen to form sulfur dioxide:

S(s) + O2(g) → SO2(g)

Sulfur dioxide may be oxidized to sulfur trioxide:

2SO2(g) + O2(g) → 2SO3(g)

Both of these oxides dissolve in water forming acidic

solutions:
SO2(g) + H2O(l) → H2SO3(aq)

SO3(g) + H2O(l) → H2SO4(aq)

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What is acid rain?
Acid rain is caused by acidic non-metal oxides such as
sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides dissolving in rain water.

Rain water is naturally

acidic because carbon
dioxide dissolves in it,
forming weak carbonic
acid. However, sulfur
and nitrogen oxides
form more acidic
solutions, which can
damage trees and
affect aquatic life in
lakes and rivers.

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Removing sulfur dioxide pollution
Sulfur dioxide emissions from vehicle fuels such as petrol
and diesel are reduced by removing nearly all of the sulfur
impurities from the fuel before it is burnt.

Removing the sulfur from coal before it is burnt is not

practical. Instead, the acidic sulfur oxides are removed
from the waste gases using a base such as calcium oxide.

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Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere.

Fossil fuels are being

burned faster than they
are being formed, which
means that their
combustion leads to a
net increase in the
amount of atmospheric
carbon dioxide.

It has been suggested that increases in the amount of

carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases may be
responsible for apparent changes to the climate.

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Greenhouse gases
Carbon dioxide, water vapour and
methane have been described as the
main greenhouse gases.
This is because these have been
suggested as the gases responsible
for the majority of the greenhouse
effect.
The greenhouse effect is a theory that has been suggested
to explain apparent rises in the average temperature of
the Earth.
Increasing the amount of any of the greenhouse gases traps
more heat energy from the Sun in the Earth’s atmosphere,
raising the average temperature.

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Pollutant gases

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Glossary

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What’s the keyword?

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Multiple-choice quiz

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