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Carbon plays a big role in organic chemistry and often serves as the backbone of many molecules. Carbon loves to attach itself to itself. So you can end up with molecules that become long chains of carbon. They could look like this, (C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C). There is a system used for counting the number of carbons in a molecule. So let’s learn this new way to count and how to name molecules containing carbon and hydrogen. Let’s start with a molecule containing one carbon. And since carbon has four bonds, there must be four hydrogen atoms attached to it. The word that means one is "meth." In other words, meth means one carbon. Since there are only single lines (single bonds) attaching the carbon to other atoms, then you can put the letters, "ane" after meth. ("ane" means single bond.) So the name of the molecule with one carbon and four hydrogen is methane. When there are two carbons in a molecule, then you would use the word "eth". In other words, eth means two carbons. Notice that the two carbons are attached to each other with a single line (single bond). All the other bonds are single lines. So we can call this molecule, ethane. You can name carbon molecules up to 10 (Decane) using the following table.
Three-Dimensional Drawing of Methane
1 Carbon - Meth
2 Carbon - Eth
3 Carbon - Prop
4 Carbon - But
5 Carbon - Pent
6 Carbon - Hex
7 Carbon - Hept
8 Carbon - Oct
9 Carbon - Nom
10 Carbon - Dec
Three-Dimensional Drawing of Ethane
Three-Dimensional Drawing of Propane