So what exactly is a hydrocarbon?. A hydrocarbon is any molecule that is formed from carbon and hydrogen atoms only. As we will soon see, some of the most common hydrocarbons are Methane, Ethane, Propane and Butane, all of which you have probably come across at some point.


Any study of organic chemistry, and in particular the hydrocarbons will start with the alkanes, alkenes and (it would seem rarely nowadays) the alkynes. From the hydrocarbons it is common to move on to simple polymers, Alcohols, Carboxylic Acids, more complicated polymers and as we move into more advanced chemistry we will start looking at the cyclic compounds of Carbon and Hydrogen, such as Benzene, Phenols and so on.


We will start our organic chemistry study with the hydrocarbons and the simplest family, the Alkanes.