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Chapter 19: Problem 55

Based on your answers to the previous item, complete the following statement: For saturated hydrocarbons, as the number of carbon atoms in the molecule increases, the percentage of carbon in the molecule will _____.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Increase

Step by step solution

01

Understand the composition of Saturated Hydrocarbons

Note that saturated hydrocarbons are composed solely of carbon (C) and hydrogen (H) atoms, and all carbon atoms form 4 bonds. The simplest saturated hydrocarbon is methane, CH4, which consists of a carbon atom with 4 hydrogen atoms.
02

Understand the Impact of Adding Carbon Atoms

Each carbon atom added to a saturated hydrocarbon implies extra hydrogen atoms too, but the increase in the molecule's size enhances the overall presence of carbon. For instance, ethane (C2H6) has 2 carbon atoms and 6 hydrogen atoms.
03

Evaluate the trend

As we can see, as the number of carbon atoms increases in a saturated hydrocarbon, the total molecular weight increases at a faster rate than the weight attributed solely to hydrogen. Therefore, as more carbon atoms are added, the percentage of the molecule's composition due to carbon increases.

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