1. Module 5

1.11. Page 5

Lesson 2

Module 5—Hydrocarbons and the Petroleum Industry

Lesson Summary


In Lesson 2 you considered the following questions:

  • What are alkanes?
  • What industries use alkanes?
  • What steps are used to refine natural gas?

You identified that natural gas is a source of alkanes, and that alkanes are a diverse group of hydrocarbon molecules that can have a variety of structural forms. You learned to identify the key components of alkanes, to draw their chemical structures, and to write the systematic names for an alkane and its isomers. You also began to consider the petroleum industry from a variety of perspectives, and you collected evidence of the petroleum industry's impact on your local area.

 

Lesson Glossary

 

alkanes: a class of hydrocarbons that contain only single bonds

 

alkyl branch: a group of carbon and hydrogen atoms joined by single bonds

 

The group is not part of the main structure of a hydrocarbon.

 

cycloalkanes: a cyclic (carbon chain forms a circle) hydrocarbon in which all of the bonds between carbon atoms are single bonds

 

structural isomers: compounds that share the same chemical formula but have different chemical structures