Hydrocarbons – Notes

Classification
Hydrocarbons are organic compounds containing only hydrogen and carbon.
They play important role in our life as they meet more than 90 percent of the energy requirements of the world. Also they are the major sources of various other organic compounds which find use in different walks of life.
On the basis of carbon skeleton, that is, type of carbon-carbon bonds, hydrocarbons can be classified into three main categories-saturated, unsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbons.
Saturated hydrocarbons are the hydrocarbons consisting of carbon-to-carbon single bonds.
Unsaturated hydrocarbons contain multiple carbon-to-carbon bonds.
Aromatic hydrocarbons are cyclic hydrocarbons with alternative double bonds in conjugation.

Alkanes: Nomenclature and Isomerism
Alkanes are the simplest form of hydrocarbons containing only carbon and hydrogen.
Its molecules consist of carbon-carbon single bonds and carbon-hydrogen bonds.
Their general formula is C_nH_2n+2.
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