Alkanes
Use this landing page to move quickly between the main alkane revision pages for Cambridge International AS & A Level Chemistry Topic 14. These pages cover the origin of alkanes from crude oil, their use as fuels, alternative fuels and the main reactions students need to understand.
Choose an Alkanes Page
Alkanes are saturated hydrocarbons with single carbon-carbon bonds. These pages separate the topic into crude oil, fuels, alternative fuels and alkane reactions so that students can revise the source, use and chemical behaviour of alkanes clearly.
Key idea: Alkanes are relatively unreactive saturated hydrocarbons, but they are industrially important as fuels and feedstocks. Their combustion and free-radical substitution reactions are central to this part of Topic 14.
Alkanes from Crude Oil
Revise crude oil as a mixture of hydrocarbons and how fractional distillation separates fractions with different boiling ranges.
Start revisingAlkanes as Fuel
Learn how alkanes release energy during combustion and compare complete and incomplete combustion products.
Start revisingAlternative Fuel
Review alternative fuels and compare their advantages, limitations and environmental implications against fossil fuels.
Start revisingReactions of Alkanes
Revise the key reactions of alkanes, including combustion and free-radical substitution with halogens under ultraviolet light.
Start revisingProducing Alkanes
Hydrogenation of alkenes with H2 over Pt or Ni, and cracking longer alkanes by heating with Al₂O₃ (14.1.1).
Start revisingUnreactivity of Alkanes
Why strong, non-polar C-H bonds make alkanes ignore polar reagents, and the chlorination and bromination of ethane (14.1.5, 14.1.2).
Start revisingHow to Use These Pages
Start with crude oil to understand where alkanes come from and why boiling point trends matter. Then revise alkanes as fuels, compare alternative fuels and finish with alkane reactions. For each page, practise writing equations, interpreting combustion products and explaining reactions using the correct organic chemistry vocabulary.
Exam focus: Be able to describe fractional distillation, explain combustion of alkanes, evaluate alternative fuels and write free-radical substitution steps using correct radicals and equations.
Master Introduction to Organic Chemistry and Alkanes for Cambridge International AS & A Level Chemistry
Continue from these free revision notes into the full Topics 13 and 14.1 Introduction to Organic Chemistry and Alkanes course. The guided video lessons are ready now; the Cambridge International MCQ bank, teacher-marked short-answer questions and KASP spec-point report are being written, and the course opens for enrolment as soon as they are complete.
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Some ionic radii are shown.
| Ion | Ionic radius / nm |
|---|---|
| Na+ | 0.102 |
| K+ | 0.138 |
| F− | 0.133 |
| Cl− | 0.180 |
Which compound has the strongest ionic bonding?
Explain why the metallic bonding in magnesium is much stronger than that in sodium.
Copyright notice: This revision page, including its written explanations, layout and teaching sequence, is produced for Online Learning System by Dr. Mohammed Al-Fatah. It is intended for student revision and may not be copied, redistributed or republished without permission.
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