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Chemistry vocabulary · Organic Chemistry

Hydrocarbon

Meaning in chemistry, with examples

nounCore term

In chemistry, hydrocarbon means: A compound made of only carbon and hydrogen. Methane, propane, ethylene and benzene are examples, and crude oil is mostly a mixture of them.

In Turkish: hidrokarbon

How it is used

Used in organic chemistry, fuels and the petrochemical industry. Hydrocarbons are saturated (only single bonds) or unsaturated (double or triple bonds), and aliphatic or aromatic. They burn well and are generally insoluble in water.

Example sentences

  1. Hexane is a hydrocarbon solvent often used to extract oils.

  2. Complete combustion of a hydrocarbon gives only carbon dioxide and water.

Common collocations

  • saturated hydrocarbon
  • unsaturated hydrocarbon
  • aromatic hydrocarbon
  • hydrocarbon chain
  • alkaneA saturated hydrocarbon with only single bonds between its carbon atoms and the general formula CₙH₂ₙ₊₂. Methane, ethane, propane and butane are the simplest ones.
  • alkeneA hydrocarbon with at least one carbon–carbon double bond. Simple ones have the general formula CₙH₂ₙ, and ethene (ethylene) is the smallest.
  • aromatic compoundAn organic compound that contains a flat ring of delocalized electrons, such as a benzene ring. These rings are unusually stable.
  • organic compoundA compound built mainly from carbon atoms bonded to hydrogen, often with oxygen, nitrogen or other elements. Fuels, plastics, drugs and most molecules of living things belong here.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Organic Chemistry

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