Vandit Narula 11/3 Obtaining Alkenes from an Alkane by Cracking Aim: To obtain an alkene from an alkane by the process

of cracking. Theory: Alkenes is a homologous series in which hydrocarbons contains a double bond between

carbon atoms. It is represented by the general formula CnH2n . Alkane is a homologous series in which hydrocarbons contain only single carbon atom bonds; it is represented by the general formula CnH2n +2. Cracking allows large hydrocarbon molecules to be broken down into smaller, more useful hydrocarbon molecules. This is done by taking fractions that contain large hydrocarbon molecules are vaporized and passed over a hot catalyst. This breaks chemical bonds in the molecules, and forms smaller hydrocarbon molecules. A catalyst is just something that changes the rate of the reactions in order to get a result faster. Bromine water is something that reacts with the alkene and turns transparent, therefore it is an alkene tester. Alkenes are very useful as they could be used for various industrial processes like polymerization and also to create industrial alcohol.

Apparatus: Bunsen burner Stand Cotton wool Paraffin oil Clamp Lava rocks (catalyst) Test tubes Bromine water Big test tube

Vandit Narula 11/3 Plastic container Lighter Small test tubes Test tube rack Glasses

Diagram:

Method: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. Set up your apparatus carefully taking extra precaution and wearing glasses and making sure the clamp is properly fixed. Put cotton wool inside the boiling test tube and push it towards the end. Pour 2-3 drops of paraffin oil into the test tube Place lava rocks in the middle of the test tube. Prepare two test tubes in the plastic container Fill them with water upside down and make sure no air bubbles are in the water Do the same for both test tubes and keep one on the side to change Switch on the gas and light the Bunsen burner making sure it is Once youve lit the Bunsen burner, open the air hole to get a blue flame. Move the Bunsen burner back and forth across the boiling test tube. The test tube will start filling with gas, once its almost full change the test tube and cover it really fast with your thumb. Take the test tube you removed and test for an Alkene with bromine water. If water in the test tube turns from brown orange to transparent that means you have an alkene. This step is extremely important, once you are during you have to close the gas tap to stop the Bunsen burner and at the same time you have to remove the clamp to avoid getting the water sucked in.

Vandit Narula 11/3 Results: We were able to obtain alkenes from alkanes by the process of cracking in our second test tube but not in our first test tube. Our result was confirmed by the alkene test which was using bromine water which turned from orange-brownish to transparent upon shaking vigorously thus confirming our result. Sources of Errors: I. We werent able to get a result in our first test tube because of the air trapped in the big test tube and in the pipes. Thus when we started heating and gas that came into our test tube was nothing but air and therefore when we tested it with bromine water it naturally did turn transparent. Another possible error could be that when we were changing the test tube we werent fast enough or we didnt cover the test tube hole properly and the gas escaped before we could even test for the presence of alkenes

II.

Critical Analysis: I. Avoiding this error is virtually impossible as error is everywhere and a vacuum cannot be created for this experiment. Therefore it is an experimental error and the only way to control it would be take perform this error multiple times in order to get a more consistent and precise result. This error can be avoided by using covers that attached to the pipe that can be closed when we want or using more controlled environment. Even this error can be avoided by doing the experiment many times to make sure of the result.

II.

Conclusion: We were able to obtain an alkene from an alkane by the process of cracking. In this process we were successfully able to break down large hydrocarbon molecules (alkanes) into smaller hydrocarbon molecules (alkenes) which we tested with the bromine water which turned transparent in our second test tube and therefore able to achieve our aim with slight problems. Overall, our experiment was very successful