Question

How many carbon atoms are in a butane molecule?

Answer 1

Hint: As we know that the hydrocarbons are named according to the number of carbon atoms present in the organic molecule and they start with the naming of the compound as methane, ethane, propane and so on which possess \[1,2,3..\]and so on carbon atoms.

Complete step-by-step answer:
As we know that molecular formula and naming of an organic compound is done on the basis of number of carbon atoms like the organic compound containing one carbon atom is called Methane which is represented by the chemical formula as $(C{H_4})$, then we have compound containing two atoms of carbon which is called Ethane and the chemical formula of this compound is $({C_2}{H_6})$.

The third compound is Propane which contains three carbon atoms given by the formula as $({C_3}{H_8})$ and then we have our compound which is Butane and this compound is composed of four carbon atoms the chemical formula of Butane is $({C_4}{H_{10}})$. Each of the carbon atoms are bonded with single bonds which can be represented as given below:
${H_3}C - C{H_2} - C{H_2} - C{H_3}$

Therefore, we can say that the Butane is a hydrocarbon composed of four carbon atoms and ten hydrogen atoms. Similarly, we can name the other compounds like the carbon with five atoms of carbon is called Pentane, six carbon containing compounds is Hexane, seven carbon containing compounds is Heptane and so on.

Note: Always remember that the number of carbon atoms are the prime factor in determining the nomenclature of organic compounds and a chemical structure involves the arrangement of these atoms in order to determine the structure and name of the compound. So the four carbon-containing compounds are Butane.