How do you differentiate between alkanes and an alkene?

An alkane is a saturated hydrocarbon, which basically means it is an compound made up of carbons and hydrogens (hence the hydrocarbon) and has the maximum number of hydrogens (hence it is saturated). Whereas, an alkene while also being a hydrocarbon is unsaturated, due to a double bond between two carbons meaning that one of the carbons is only bonded to one hydrogen and the other carbon is bonded to two hydrogens, whereas without the double bond as seen by the alkane, the alkene could have another two hydrogens. So simply an alkene has a double bond which means that it cannot fit the maximum number of hydrogens and therefore is unsaturated. Therefore by using a diagram you can differentiate an alkene from an alkane due to the double bond. Another common way of differentiating between them is using bromine water. When alkenes are mixed with bromine water the colour will change from orange to colourless.

Answered by Hannah F. Chemistry tutor

2763 Views

See similar Chemistry GCSE tutors

Related Chemistry GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Calculate the mass of copper oxide required to produce 24.95 g of copper sulfate crystals (CuSO4.5H2O).


Nitrogen has an atomic number of 7 and mass number of 14, an isotope of nitrogen has a mass number of 17. Explain what an isotope is and state how many electrons, protons and neutrons this isotope has?


Can you describe ionic bonding and structure of ionic compounds to me?


Potassium forms an ionic compound with sulfur.Describe what happens when two atoms of potassium react with one atom of sulfur. Give your answer in terms of electron transfer. Give the formulae of the ions formed


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences