Hydrocarbons II

CHEMISTRY SSS2 Third Term

WEEK 8

Hydrocarbons 2

Performance objectives

Students should be able to:

1. Explain isomerism with examples.
2. Differentiate between aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons

Content

Isomerism

What is Isomerism?

Isomerism is the phenomenon in which more than one compounds have the same chemical formula but different chemical structures. Chemical compounds that have identical chemical formulae but differ in properties and the arrangement of atoms in the molecule are called isomers. Therefore, the compounds that exhibit isomerism are known as isomers.

The word “isomer” is derived from the Greek words “isos” and “meros”, which means “equal parts”. This term was coined by the Swedish chemist Jacob Berzelius in the year 1830.

Types

There are two primary types of isomerism,…