Exercise 11 – Hydrocarbons

Discussion:

The first experiment that was performed was the synthesis and reaction of acetylene. Acetylene
was synthesized when water was reacted with calcium carbide. The synthesized acetylene is used to
react with 2 reagents. The reagents are Kmno4 and bromine solution. When bromine solution was
reacted with acetylene, the color of the solution changed. The color turned from orange to lime. On the
other hand, the color of the KMno4 solution changed when reacted with acetylene. The color turned
from purple to light orange. From the results, it can be observed that acetylene is reactive with the 2
reagents. This means that acetylene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon. After performing this experiment,
several tests were performed.

In the solubility test, all of the hydrocarbons in the experiment are insoluble in water.
Hydrocarbons are non-polar substances which is why they will not dissolve in polar substances such as
water. Mixing cyclohexane and hexane will give a miscible solution because both are non-polar
substances.

In the sulfuric acid test, it can be observed that hexene, cyclohexene, and toluene reacted when
it was added with sulfuric acid. Hexene showed an immiscible solution with a clear top layer and a
yellowish bottom part solution. Cyclohexene showed an immiscible solution with light yellow top layer
and a black bottom layer. Toluene showed a cloudy immiscible solution. Hexene, cyclohexene, and
toluene are unsaturated hydrocarbons which means that they have pi bonds. Hydrocarbons with Double
bonded carbons are weaker compared to single bonded carbons when attacked by a reagent which is
why alkenes and aromatic hydrocarbons are much more reactive than alkanes. Hexane and cyclohexane
showed little to no reaction when added with sulfuric acid.

Hydrocarbons are reacted with potassium permanganate in the Beayer test. Potassium
permanganate reacts with anything unsaturated. Alkenes reacted with potassium permanganate
because they are unsaturated hydrocarbons. Hexene showed an immiscible solution wherein the top
layer is clear while the bottom layer is yellowish. Cyclohexene showed a clear immiscible solution.
Alkanes did not react with potassium permanganate because they are saturated hydrocarbons.
Cyclohexane and hexane both showed an immiscible solution wherein the top layer is clear and the
bottom layer is yellowish. Toluene is an unsaturated aromatic compound which is why it showed an
immiscible solution wherein the top layer is clear while the bottom is purple.

In the bromine test, saturated hydrocarbons will only react with bromine under free radical
conditions which means there must be presence of light. Cyclohexane and hexane were the
hydrocarbons used for the bromine test. Both alkanes are saturated hydrocarbons because they don’t
have double or triple bonds. Each hydrocarbon was divided and was placed in two separate test tubes
thus having 4 test tubes in total. The first test tube of each hydrocarbon was placed near a light bulb
while the second test tube of each hydrocarbon was placed inside a locker. The test tubes that was
placed near the light bulb showed a reaction. The reaction of hexane was faster compared to
cyclohexane. The test tubes that was placed inside a locker did not show any changes.
Conclusion:

Hydrocarbons are non-polar and would only dissolve in non-polar substances. They are not soluble in
water because it is a polar substance. Hydrocarbons may be saturated or unsaturated. In the
experiment, the saturated hydrocarbons are hexane and cyclohexane. The unsaturated hydrocarbons
are hexene, cyclohexene, and toluene. A hydrocarbon is considered to be saturated if it does not have
double or triple bond. Saturated hydrocarbons may don’t have a double or triple bond. If a hydrocarbon
is unsaturated, it will react with sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate. It can be observed that
hexene, cyclohexene, and toluene were very reactive compared to hexane and cyclohexane. In the
bromine test, saturated hydrocarbons were used. It will only react if there is presence of light. There will
be no free radical reaction if the light is absent.