C5 Organic Chemistry - Fuels, Homologous Series, and Energetics

Vocabulary flashcards covering core organic chemistry concepts, fuels, homologous series, intermolecular forces, calorimetry, and bond energetics.

Fuel

A chemical store of energy that can be transformed into heat or kinetic energy when combusted.

Combustion

An exothermic chemical reaction between a fuel and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen.

Complete Combustion

Combustion that occurs when there is sufficient oxygen to react completely with a fuel, producing carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) and water ($H_2O$).

Incomplete Combustion

Combustion that occurs when oxygen supply is limited, producing carbon monoxide ($CO$) and soot (carbon).

Homologous Series

A series of organic compounds with the same functional group and similar chemical properties, differing by repeating carbon units.

Functional Group

The specific part of a molecule in a homologous series that determines its chemical reactivity and properties.

Organic Compounds

Chemical compounds containing carbon atoms, which can form up to four covalent bonds with other elements.

Alkane

A hydrocarbon compound containing only carbon-carbon single bonds, assigned the IUPAC suffix $-ane$.

Alkene

A hydrocarbon compound containing at least one carbon-carbon double bond, assigned the IUPAC suffix $-ene$.

Alcohol

An organic compound containing a hydroxyl group ($-OH$) attached to a saturated carbon atom, assigned the IUPAC suffix $-anol$.

Saturated Hydrocarbon

A hydrocarbon in which carbon atoms are bonded to the maximum possible number of hydrogen atoms through single covalent bonds.

Unsaturated Hydrocarbon

A hydrocarbon containing double or triple carbon-carbon bonds, meaning fewer hydrogen atoms are attached relative to carbon capacity.

IUPAC Prefix

The beginning portion of an organic compound's systematic name that specifies the number of carbon atoms in the longest continuous chain.

Physical Property

A characteristic of a substance that can be observed or measured without changing the substance into a different chemical identity.

Intermolecular Forces

Weak forces of attraction between separate covalent molecules that determine physical states and phase transition temperatures.

London Dispersion Forces

Intermolecular attractions caused by random electron movements forming instantaneous dipoles that induce dipoles in nearby molecules.

Addition Reaction

A chemical reaction characteristic of alkenes where a carbon-carbon double bond opens into a single bond to allow new atoms to attach across the bond.

Bromine Water Test

A test for unsaturation where alkenes react with and decolorize orange/brownish-red bromine water to colorless, while alkanes remain unreactive.

Evaporative Cooling

The drop in temperature of a liquid during evaporation caused by higher-energy molecules escaping into the gas phase.

Heat

The transfer of thermal energy from a body at a higher temperature to one at a cooler temperature.

Temperature

A quantitative measurement of the average kinetic energy of the particles within a substance.

Calorimetry

An experimental technique used to measure the thermal energy released or absorbed during a chemical reaction by tracking temperature changes in a liquid.

Specific Heat Capacity ($c$)

The energy needed to raise the temperature of one unit mass of a substance by $1\,^∘ C$; for water, this value is $4.18\,kJ\,kg^{-1}\,^∘ C^{-1}$.

Bond Enthalpy

The amount of energy required to break $1\,mol$ of a specific covalent bond in gaseous state molecules.

Molar Enthalpy of Combustion ($\Delta H_c$)

The enthalpy change per mole of a substance undergoing complete combustion, determined using the relationship $\Delta H = -\frac{Q}{n}$.