Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry · Syllabus 0620 · Organic Chemistry
Hydrocarbon
What is Hydrocarbon?
A compound that contains the elements carbon and hydrogen only; alkanes and alkenes are hydrocarbons, whereas alcohols and carboxylic acids are not, because they also contain oxygen.
This definition is part of the Organic Chemistry chapter in Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry.
Common mistakes with Hydrocarbon
- “Petroleum is a compound that is broken down in the fractionating column.” Core 11.3.4Core 11.3.5 why it fails Two errors at once: petroleum is not a compound, and distillation does not break anything down. correct Petroleum is a mixture of hydrocarbons. Fractional distillation separates that mixture using differences in boiling point. No bonds inside the molecules are broken. Taught in 11.3.
- “Kerosene boils at 180 °C.” Core 11.3.6 why it fails A fraction is itself a mixture of hydrocarbons of similar chain length, so it does not have one fixed boiling point, and the syllabus supplies no numbers. correct Fractions condense over a range of boiling points. Answer in terms of higher and lower, not in invented degrees. Taught in 11.3.