Introduction
carbon bond and the carbon-hydrogen bond is quite high and their rapid oxidation produces
a large amount of heat, typically in the form of fire.
As said it is important, not considered very important component in the chemistry.
13.1 Introductory Definitions.
Organic compounds containcarbonandhydrogenby definition and usually other
elements (e.g.nitrogenandoxygen) as well. (CO 2 is not an organic compound because
it has no hydrogen).
Hydrocarbonsare organic compounds that contain carbon and hydrogen only.
Alkanesare hydrocarbons or organic compounds made up of only carbon-carbon single
bonds (as opposed to double and triple bonds). The simplest alkane ismethane^3.
13.2 Methane.
Methane, (CH 4 , one carbon bonded to four hydrogens) is the simplest organic molecule. It
is a gas at standard temperature and pressure (STP)^4.
Figure 18
MethaneThis is a flattened, two-dimensional representation of methane that you will see commonly.
The true three-dimensional form of methane does not have any 90 degree angles between
bonded hydrogens. The bonds point to the four corners of a tetrahedron^5 , forming cos-1(-
1/3)≈109.5 degree bond angles.
3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/methane
4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_conditions_for_temperature_and_pressure
5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahedron