Physical and Chemical Properties

What are four physical properties of alkanes?

1. Insoluble in water.
2. Less dense than water.
3. Boiling point is directly related to length of chain.
4. At standard conditions:
   • Methane to butane are gases
   • Pentane to heptadecane (C$_{17}$H$_{36}$) are liquids
   • Octadecane and up are solids

What are the chemical properties of alkanes?

Alkanes are also called paraffins which comes from Latin meaning lacking affinity. Therefore, alkanes have low level of reactivity secondary to stable C-H and H-H bonds.

What is the infrared absorption of C-C and C-H bonds?

Table 42.3: Infrared absorption of C-C and C-H bonds.

Bond	Frequency ($cm^{-1}$)
C-H	$\sim$1200
C-C	$\sim$2900