Properties of Hydrocarbons Explained

Added: 2026-04-30

[00:00:00]Hydrocarbons are molecules made of only carbon and hydrogen. One of their most important properties is that they're non-polar. That means their electrons are shared pretty evenly, so they don't have positive or negative ends like water does. Because of that, hydrocarbons usually do not mix with water. Another important property is their boiling point. As hydrocarbon chains get longer, their boiling point increases. Why? Longer molecules have more surface area and stronger dispersion forces, which are weak attractions between the molecules. More attraction means it takes more heat to separate them. And shape matters, too.

[00:00:30]Straight chain hydrocarbons pack together tightly, like a pile of neatly stacked logs. But when the chain is branched, the molecules don't stack as well. They're more like a messy pile of branches with gaps between them. And less contact means weaker attraction. So branching lowers the boiling