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Ch.2 - Atoms, Molecules, and Ions

Chapter 2, Problem 81a

(a) What is a hydrocarbon?

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Hi everyone for this problem. It reads which of the following describes a hydrocarbon. Okay, so let's discuss some definitions here. An organic molecule is any molecule that contains both carbon and hydrogen. An organic molecule that contains a mixture of carbon and hydrogen alone is a hydrocarbon. Okay, so a hydrocarbon solely contains a mixture of carbon and hydrogen. So based off of our definitions here or answer choices. Answer choice. A A hydrocarbon is a compound made of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. This is not correct. Okay, be a hydrocarbon is a compound made entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Okay, so this statement is correct because it contains only hydrogen and carbon. Let's look at the rest. See, a hydrocarbon is a compound that contains a O. H. Group. This is not correct. And D a hydrocarbon is any compound that contains hydrogen and oxygen. This is incorrect. So as you can see here, we said, a hydrocarbon is a compound made entirely of hydrogen and carbon. That's it for this problem. I hope this was helpful