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WAChemistryQuick questions
Unit 4: Organic Chemistry and Chemical Synthesis
Quick questions on Hydrocarbons: alkanes, alkenes and alkynes: WACE Year 12 Chemistry
3short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are alkanes?Show answer
Alkanes contain only single carbon-carbon bonds and so are saturated (each carbon holds the maximum number of hydrogen atoms). Their general formula is (methane, ethane, propane and so on). Because the C-C and C-H single bonds are strong and non-polar, alkanes are relatively unreactive. Their main reactions are combustion and, with ultraviolet light, substitution with halogens.
What are alkenes?Show answer
Alkenes contain at least one C=C double bond and are unsaturated, with general formula (ethene, propene and so on). The double bond is a region of high electron density and is the reactive site. Alkenes readily undergo addition reactions, in which a molecule adds across the double bond, converting it to a single bond.
What are alkynes?Show answer
Alkynes contain a C≡C triple bond, general formula (ethyne is the simplest). Like alkenes they are unsaturated and undergo addition, and they are even more unsaturated, so they can add two molecules across the triple bond.
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