Question

What elements are present in alkanes?

Answer 1

Hint :An alkane, also known as paraffin, is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon in organic chemistry. To put it another way, an alkane is made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure with single carbon–carbon bonds.

Complete Step By Step Answer:
According to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Alkanes are acyclic branched or unbranched hydrocarbons with the general formula $ {C_n}{H_{2n + 2}} $ , and thus composed entirely of hydrogen atoms and saturated carbon atoms.
Each carbon atom in an alkane is $ s{p^3} $ -hybridized with four sigma bonds ( $ C - C $ or $ C - H $ ), and each hydrogen atom is linked to one of the carbon atoms (in a $ C - H $ bond). The carbon skeleton, also known as the carbon backbone, is the longest sequence of connected carbon atoms in a molecule. The number of carbon atoms in an alkane can be used to determine its size. Alkanes are those hydrocarbons in which hydrogen atoms are attached to the carbon atom with a single bond.
The compounds of alkanes are formed by the formula $ {C_n}{H_{2n + 2}} $ . Here n $ = 1, $ $ 2, $ $ 3, $ …..
On substituting the value of n in the general formula, we get the compounds of alkane.
For example, if we put n $ = 1 $ , then the formula will be $ C{H_4} $ , it is known as methane.
If we put n $ = 2 $ , then the formula will be $ {C_2}{H_6} $ , it is known as ethane.
And similarly, on putting n = $ 3,4,5..... $ and so on, we get compound names such as propane, butane, pentane and so on.

Note :
It is a thing to remember that all the compounds of alkanes end with ‘ane’. For ex- methane, ethane, propane etc. Sigma bonds bind their neighboring atoms, forming tetrahedral centres around the carbon atoms. Since these are all single links, all ties are free to rotate.