Organic Chemistry

1) What is a Hydrocarbon ?
This is any compound that is formed from only hydrogen and carbon atoms.

2) Can you give the names of the two different groups of Hydrocarbons ?
Alkanes - these are the simplest type (methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane)
Alkenes - they have a double bond between two of the carbon atoms (ethene, propene, butene, pentene)

3) What is Crude Oil a mixture of ?
Crude oils is a mixture of chemicals called hydrocarbons.
Most of these hydrocarbons are alkanes.
It made from ancient biomass, mainly plankton.
Crude oil straight out of the ground is not much use, as there are too many substances in it, all with different boiling points.

4) What is the name of the process used to seperate Crude Oil into its different substances ?
Fractional Distillation

5) What is the name of the process used to convert long-chained hydrocarbons into shorter ones ?
Cracking - this is a Thermal Decomposition reaction.