organic chem

Energy

the capacity to do work, a property that must be transferred to an object in order to perform work on, or to heat, the object.

energy consumption

all the energy used to perform an action, manufacture something or simply inhabit a building

Fossil fuel

mixtures of hydrocarbons that formed from the remains of animals and plants that lived millions of years ago in a marine environment e.g. oil, coal, natural gas

coal

A fossil fuel that forms underground from partially decomposed plant material. it is burned for electricity and supplies 1/3 of the world’s energy

crude oil

Liquid petroleum removed from the ground that needs to be refined, and can be broken down into fractions (fractional distillation)

natural gas

A fossil fuel in the gaseous state. It is 90% methane and needs very little treatment before use

Greenhouse effect

the process of planetary warming caused by certain gases in the planet's atmosphere.

how does the greenhouse effect work?

High-energy short-wave radiation emitted by the Sun passes through the atmosphere. 50% of this radiation is reflected back into space. 50% of this radiation hits the Earth's surface heating it up. A blanket of greenhouse gases around the Earth absorbs and emits this radiation, regulating the temperature.

Common greenhouse gases

Water Vapor (H2O)

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Methane (CH4)

Nitrogen Oxides (N2O)

CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon)

Organic chemistry

chemistry based on the molecular compounds formed by the element carbon.

fractional distillation

the process of separating crude oil into fractions based on the boiling points of the hydrocarbons. substances with high boiling points condense at the bottom, substances with low boiling points condense at the top

Viscosity

a measure of a substance's resistance to flow, the "thickness" of a fluid.

Volatility

a measure of a substance's ability to evaporate below it's boiling point.

Flammability

a measure of a substance's ability to ignite.

Homologous series

a group of compounds with the same functional group, capable of undergoing similar chemical reactions, differ only by the length of carbon chains.

Functional group

the group of atoms or bonds responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of a homologous series of compounds.

Saturated hydrocarbon

hydrocarbons that has only single bonds between carbon atoms.

Unsaturated hydrocarbon

hydrocarbons have double or triple bonds between carbon atoms.

Isomer

substances with the same molecular formulae but different arrangements of atoms in space.

Enthalpy change

the change in potential energy of a chemical system during a chemical reaction.

Exothermic

a process that releases energy, it converts enthalpy in a system into heat energy in the surroundings.

Endothermic

a process that takes in energy, it converts heat energy in the surroundings into enthalpy in the system.

System

the matter being studied, the atoms and molecules of the reaction.

Surroundings

the rest of the universe, apart from the system, exchanges energy with the system.

Activation energy

the minimum amount of energy required for a chemical reaction to occur.

Catalyst

a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction, by reducing the activation energy for the reaction.