What are saturated hydrocarbons?please answer so that a 8th child could understand

1 Answer
DocA · Stefan V.
Feb 13, 2018

They only contain single bonds.

Explanation:

Hydrocarbons contain hydrogen and carbon atoms ONLY.

There are always 4 bonds from each carbon atom and one from each hydrogen atom.

Therefore #CH_4# is a saturated hydrocarbon. There is a whole series of such compounds that share a general formula of #C_nH_(2n+2)#. These are known as the alkanes. Therefore #C_6H_14# would be a member of this series.

Hydrocarbons make useful fuels when combusted.

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