Hydrocarbons are molecules made up of hydrogen and carbon atoms only
They can be represented by their molecular or displayed form, where a line represents a covalent bond
They exists as different homologous series, in which they have the same general formula & structure and characteristic properties caused by their functional group
The suffixes used in naming depends on their functional group and the prefixes on the number of carbon atoms in the molecule, beginning: meth-, eth-, prop-
Saturated hydrocarbons contain only carbon-carbon single bonds, whereas unsaturated hydrocarbons do not
Trends
Some properties of hydrocarbons depend on the size of their molecules, influencing how they are used as fuels
The larger the molecule, the higher its boiling point, since the larger surface area of each molecule means that there are more van der Waals forces to overcome
The larger the molecule, the higher its viscosity, since the van der Waals forces makes it harder for the molecules to flow
The larger the molecule, the lower its flammability