Carbon and Its Compounds — Three General Formulas, Six Functional Groups and One Naming Rule

Carbon has atomic number 6 and the configuration 2,4 — it can neither lose four electrons easily nor gain four. So it shares them. That single fact produces more than ten million known compounds, more than all the other elements put together. Two properties do the work: tetravalency, meaning four bonds always, and catenation, carbon linking to carbon in chains, branches and rings better than any other element manages.

For an exam this chapter is unusually generous. It is almost entirely formula-and-name recall. Three general formulas cover every hydrocarbon, six functional groups cover every named compound, and one naming rule converts a structure into its IUPAC name. SSC, Railway, BPSC TRE-4, CTET and UPSC prelims each draw one or two questions from here, and they are questions you either know in five seconds or lose. Learn the tables, not the theory.

1. The general formula of the alkyne series is —

2. Which allotrope of carbon conducts electricity?

3. Two successive members of a homologous series differ by a molecular mass of —

4. The functional group present in ethanoic acid (CH₃COOH) is —

5. Soap does not lather well in hard water because hard water contains —

6. The fourth member of the alkane series is —

7. The IUPAC name of CH₃CH₂OH is —

8. Carbon forms an exceptionally large number of compounds mainly because of —