Alkanes Worksheet printable pdf download

Alkanes Worksheet

Worksheet – Alkanes

Alkanes are the simplest organic compounds. They contain only C and H and all

of the carbons are sp

hybridized. There are IUPAC prefixes for carbons chains:

meth

but

hept

eth

pent

oct

prop

hex

non

dec

For alkanes, the ending is “ane”, giving methane, ethane, propane, etc.

Methane is CH

, ethane is C

, propane is C

etc. The general formula is

. There are many ways to represent these compounds. For example,

2n+2

butane, C

can be drawn as:

or CH

(CH

)

or simply as

In the last (most common) representation only the carbon chain is drawn. Each

C is assumed to have 4 bonds to it, but the H are not explicitly written out.

The longest continuous C chain determines the root name for the compound. If

additional groups are bonded to the main chain, they are assigned a number

corresponding to their position and are named as substituents, methyl, ethyl, etc.

Circle the longest chain of the compound below.

a. What is its root name?

b. Name the substituents, in alphabetical

order

c. Number the chain to give them the

lowest possible numbers

d. Name the compound

Which of the following represent the same compound? (Hint: use the

names to decide)

Alkanes Worksheet