Organic Chem
10th Grade Science · 6 lessons
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Lessons in this unit
- 1Crude Oil and Fractional DistillationCrude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons separated by fractional distillation. Longer chains have stronger intermolecular forces, so they boil higher and condense lower in the column. Bitumen leaves at the bottom, refinery gases at the top.Lesson
- 2AlkanesAlkanes are saturated hydrocarbons with only single carbon-carbon bonds, formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₂. Methane, ethane, propane and butane are the first four. They are relatively unreactive but burn well, which is what makes them fuels.Experiment
- 3Alkenes and the Bromine Water TestAlkenes contain a carbon-carbon double bond and have formula CₙH₂ₙ. That double bond makes them far more reactive than alkanes. Bromine water is decolourised from orange to colourless by an alkene, but is unchanged by an alkane.Experiment
- 4CrackingCracking breaks long, low-demand hydrocarbon chains into shorter, more useful ones using heat and a catalyst. It produces both alkanes for fuel and alkenes for polymer manufacture, matching what a refinery makes to what the market actually wants.Lesson
- 5Alcohols and Carboxylic AcidsAlcohols contain the −OH group and are named with the ending -ol. They burn, react with sodium, and oxidise to carboxylic acids, which contain −COOH and end in -oic acid. Ethanol oxidising to ethanoic acid is why wine turns to vinegar.Experiment
- 6Addition PolymerisationAlkene molecules join end to end when their double bonds open, forming a long saturated chain with no other product. Ethene gives poly(ethene). The polymer's inertness is exactly what makes it useful and what makes it persist in the environment.Experiment
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