why is hexane known as hydrocarbon?
Hexane is known as a hydrocarbon because it is composed entirely of hydrogen (H) and carbon (C) atoms. "Hydro-" refers to hydrogen and "carbon" refers to carbon. Hydrocarbons are organic compounds that consist only of carbon and hydrogen atoms.
To understand why hexane is classified as a hydrocarbon, let's break down its chemical formula: C6H14. This formula tells us that hexane has six carbon atoms (C6) and 14 hydrogen atoms (H14). There are no other elements involved, making it a pure hydrocarbon.
The name "hexane" comes from the fact that it contains six carbon atoms (hexa- means six). It is an alkane, which is a type of hydrocarbon that contains only single bonds between carbon atoms. Alkanes follow a general formula of CnH2n+2, where n represents the number of carbon atoms.
In summary, hexane is known as a hydrocarbon because it is composed solely of carbon and hydrogen atoms, following the general formula for alkanes.