Unit 3: The oil industry and hydrocarbons

By the end of this unit the students should:

• realise from where the worlds natural resources of hydrocarbons originate
• be aware of their finite nature
• understand the use of hydrocarbons as fuels and a source of valuable raw materials
• be familiar with fractional distillation and cracking as industrial processes
• understand the hazards created by the extraction of hydrocarbons and their use
• understand how carbon can form 4 bonds and chains
• be able to classify hydrocarbons as saturated or unsaturated
• be able to name the alkanes and alkenes with chain lengths of up to eight carbons
• recognise and predict trends in homologous series
• be aware of the problems and disadvantages of the use of fossil fuels
• of the possible alternatives to the continued use of hydrocarbons

Theme assessment AtoL     Introduction: The history of oil and coal, the worlds hydrocarbon supply and the geological history of the coniferous forests.   Fossil fuels ppt       The oil industry   Fractional distillation of crude oil fractional distillation demo       Breakdown of the worlds main oil producers and the destination of the products.   Theory of carbon chemistry and hydrocarbon structures.   Nomenclature. Alkanes, alkenes.       One world essay: Oil A           Isomerism and branched structures   Petrol and octane number   Test on structures up to eight carbons         Homologous series:   Properties - Alkanes, Alkenes.   Demo: Cracking hydrocarbons   The nature of the double bond   Demo: Differences between alkanes and alkenes. B   Expt: Determination of boiling point F       Exercise: The boiling points of volatile liquids   Use of hydrocarbons as fuels. Alcohols and their use as fuels. Combustion equations E       Expt 11: Combustion of alcohols. E F       Test: Hydrocarbons and alcohol