Chemistry

What is a hydrocarbon?

A molecule containing hydrogen and carbon only.

Where does bitumen exit from in the fractionating column and why?

Bitumen exits from the bottom of the fractionating column. This is because it is a long molecule with a very high boiling point. There are strong forces of attraction between the molecules and are difficult to seperate as a lot of energy is needed to pull one molecule away from another.

Where does LPG exit from in the fractionating column and why?

Molecules such as petrol have short molecules; each molecule does not have strong attractive forces; these molecules are easily seperated/less energy is needed to pull the short molecules apart; short molecules have very low boiling points.

Explain how damage is caused to wildlife is oil tanker ships are damaged.

Oil slicks can harm animals, pollute beaches and destroy unique habitats for long periods of time; clean-up operations are extremely expensive and the detergents used cause problems to wildlife.

What is cracking?

Cracking is a process that turns large alkane molecules into smaller alkane and alkene molecules.