What is Alkane?
[[File:Butan Lewis.svg|thumb|147x147px|Butane, C<sub>4</sub>H<sub>10</sub>, an alkane characterised by a four carbon chain. ]] '''Alkanes''' are [[chemical compound]]s, made of [[carbon]] and [[hydrogen]]. The simplest alkane is [[methane]], which is made of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Larger alkanes have two or more carbon atoms connected or [[chemical bond|bonded]] together in a chain. The carbon [[atoms]] of alkanes are joined together by single [[chemical bond|bonds]], which is what makes them different from [[alkene]]s. The alkane's general formula is C<sub>n</sub>H<sub>2n+2</sub>.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-11-28|title=Alkanes|url=https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Organic_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_(Organic_Chemistry)/Hydrocarbons/Alkanes|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Chemistry LibreTexts|language=en}}</ref> These are some alkanes: {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} * [[Methane]] (CH<sub>4</sub>) * [[Ethane]] (C<sub>2</sub>H<sub>6</sub>) * [[Propane]] (C<sub>3</sub>H<sub>8</sub>) * [[Butane]] (C<sub>4</sub>H<sub>10</sub>) * [[Pentane]] (C<sub>5</sub>H<sub>12</sub>) * [[Hexane]] (C<sub>6</sub>H<sub>14</sub>) * [[Heptane]] (C<sub>7</sub>H<sub>16</sub>) * [[Octane]] (C<sub>8</sub>H<sub>18</sub>) * [[Nonane]] (C<sub>9</sub>H<sub>20</sub>) * [[Decane]] (C<sub>10</sub>H<sub>22</sub>) * [[Undecane]] (C<sub>11</sub>H<sub>24</sub>) {{col-2}} * [[Dodecane]] (C<sub>12</sub>H<sub>26</sub>) * [[Tridecane]] (C<sub>13</sub>H<sub>28</sub>) * [[Tetradecane]] (C<sub>14</sub>H<sub>30</sub>) * [[Pentadecane]] (C<sub>15</sub>H<sub>32</sub>) * [[Hexadecane]] (C<sub>16</sub>H<sub>34</sub>) * [[Heptadecane]] (C<sub>17</sub>H<sub>36</sub>) * [[Octadecane]] (C<sub>18</sub>H<sub>38</sub>) * [[Nonadecane]] (C<sub>19</sub>H<sub>40</sub>) * [[Icosane]] (C<sub>20</sub>H<sub>42</sub>) * [[Heneicosane]] (C<sub>21</sub>H<sub>44</sub>) * [[Docosane]] (C<sub>22</sub>H<sub>46</sub>) {{col-end}} In an alkane, each carbon atom is [[Orbital hybridisation|sp<sup>3</sup>-hybridized]] with 4 [[Sigma bond|sigma bonds]] (either C–C or [