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atoms typically liquids at room temperature – examples:
cyclohexane, methyl cyclopentane.
Other hydrocarbons :
Alkenes general formula: C nH 2n (n is a whole number,
usually from 1 to 20) linear or branched chain molecules
containing one carbon-carbon double-bond – can be liquid or gas
examples: ethylene, butene, isobutene .
Dienes and Alkynes general formula: C nH 2n-2 (n is a whole
number, usually from 1 to 20) linear or branched chain molecules,
containing two carbon-carbon double-bonds – can be liquid or gas.

From Crude Oil

The problem with crude oil is that it contains hundreds of
different types of hydrocarbons all mixed together. You have to
separate the different types of hydrocarbons to have anything
useful. Fortunately there is an easy way to separate things, and this
is what oil refining is all about.
Different hydrocarbon chain lengths all have progressively
higher boiling points, so they can all be separated by distillation.
This is what happens in an oil refinery – in one part of the process,
crude oil is heated and the different chains are pulled out by their
vaporization temperatures. Each different chain length has a
different property that makes it useful in a different way.
To understand the diversity contained in crude oil, and to
understand why refining crude oil is so important in our society, look
through the following list of products that come from crude oil:
Petroleum gas – used for heating, cooking, making plastics
– small alkanes (1 to 4 carbon atoms);
– commonly known by the names methane, ethane, propane,
butane;
– boiling range = less than 104 degrees Fahrenheit / 40
degrees Celsius;

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