When fossil fuels are burned, they release nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which contribute to the formation of smog and acid rain. The most common nitrogen-related compounds emitted into the air by human activities are collectively referred to as nitrogen oxides.

Environmental effects When sulfur dioxide combines with water and air, it forms sulfuric acid, which is the main component of acid rain. Acid rain can: cause deforestation. acidify waterways to the detriment of aquatic life.

The principal air pollutants resulting from fossil fuel combustion are the following: (a) carbon monoxide; (b) the oxides of sulfur, SO2 and SO3 (represented as SOx); (c) the oxides of nitrogen, NO and NO2 (NOx); and (d) ‘particulates’, consisting primarily of very fine soot and ash particles.

Burning fossil fuels releases many pollutants into the air. These pollutants include carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.

Thus in fact a significant amount of char surface burning is carbon reacting with carbon dioxide to produce carbon monoxide which, being a gas, burns in a flame above the surface.

carbon monoxide

▶Gas which is mainly produced due to incomplete burning of wood is CO that is carbon monoxide. ▶In the form of dark soot and dust ,which is harmful.

Carbon monoxide

During incomplete combustion part of the carbon is not completely oxidized producing soot or carbon monoxide (CO). Incomplete combustion uses fuel inefficiently and the carbon monoxide produced is a health hazard.

(a) Carbon Monoxide – The most potentially dangerous product of incomplete burning is carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide has no odor, color, or taste so it cannot be detected by bodily senses. It is flammable and can produce an explosion. Carbon monoxide can only enter the body through the respiratory system.

Alkanes are generally unreactive although they do undergo complete combustion, producing carbon dioxide and water. The flame is orange and becomes a more sooty as the carbon content increases. Incomplete combustion leads to the formation of carbon monoxide, an odourless, colourless and highly poisonous gas.

The combination of alkanes with oxygen generating heat is known as combustion. More precisely, combustion is defined as “a chemical reaction with oxygen in which alkane is converted into carbon dioxide and water with the release of heat energy”.

When hydrocarbons burn completely: the carbon oxidises to carbon dioxide.

Alkanes are saturated hydrocarbons. This means that their carbon atoms are joined to each other by single bonds. This makes them relatively unreactive, apart from their reaction with oxygen in the air – which we call burning or combustion.

Hydrocarbons with only single bonds are called alkanes. Alkanes are called saturated hydrocarbons because each carbon is bonded with as many hydrogen atoms as possible. Potassium permanganate will not react with alkanes since they are saturated.

Paraffin is a truncation of Latin ‘parum affinum’ meaning ‘less affinity’ i.e. ‘less reactivity’. Alkanes have only single bonds which are sigma covalent. Hence, alkanes are called paraffins because they have lesser affinity towards general reagents. In other words they are inert, not readily active.

Use of Alkanes Alkanes are important raw materials of the chemical industry and the principal constituent of gasoline and lubricating oils. Natural gas mainly contains methane and ethane and is used for heating and cooking purposes and for power utilities (gas turbines).

Paraffins, also known as alkanes, are saturated compounds that have the general formula CnH2n+2, where n is the number of carbon atoms. The simplest alkane is methane (CH4), which is also represented as C1. Normal paraffins (n-paraffins or n-alkanes) are unbranched straight-chain molecules.

Alkenes (also called olefins) and alkynes (also called acetylenes) belong to the class of unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbons.

Here are the molecular formulas and names of the first ten carbon straight chain alkynes….Introduction.

List of Alkenes

• Ethene (C2H4)
• Propene (C3H6)
• Butene (C4H8)
• Pentene (C5H10)
• Hexene (C6H12)
• Heptene (C7H14)
• Octene (C8H16)
• Nonene (C9H18)

These are commonly known as paraffins and waxes. Here is a list of the first 10 alkanes….List the Simplest Hydrocarbons.

A good way to remember the names of organic molecules is to make up a silly mnemonic where the first letter of each word matches the first letter of the organic molecules. For example the first 10 alkanes in order are , Methane, Ethane, Propane, Butane, Pentane, Hexane, Heptane, Octane, Nonane and Decane.

List of straight-chain alkanes

The first four alkanes are methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10). The simplest alkane is the gas methane, whose molecular formula is CH4. Methane exists as a tetrahedral shape, but it is often represented by a flattened structure as are most organic compounds.