Question

What is the difference between the molecular formula of any two successive alkanes?

Answer 1

Series of alkanes : ch4
c2h6
c3h8
c4h10 and so on...
if we see in terms of molecular mass, the difference is ,
molecular mass of [(c2h6) - (ch4) ]
= (12x2+1x6) - (12x1 + 1x4)
​= 30 - 16
= 14 u
similarly if we see the difference between mass of c3h8 and c2h6 we get 14u

no. of atoms is : CH2
the alkane terms differ by CH2 unit.
​