ABSTRACT
Carbon is only one atom in the periodic table. Why is carbon special? From a chemical perspective, carbon forms covalent single, double, and triple bonds to another carbon, and it forms covalent bonds to a variety of other atoms. is ability to bond with itself leads to an almost limitless number of organic molecules (dened as molecules that contain carbon). is ability is one of the key reasons why the chemistry of carbon comprises an entire branch of study. Millions of different molecules have covalent bonds to carbon. is chapter will discuss the structural features of a class of organic molecules that contain only carbon and hydrogen (hydrocarbons) and have no double or triple bonds (no pi-bonds). Hydrocarbons of this type are more prevalent than one may believe. Swamp gas, for example, has a high content of the hydrocarbon methane (CH4). is chapter also introduces rules for giving each dierent molecule an individual name.
