The term hydrocarbon refers to the most basic type of organic molecules.

As suggested by their name,

they are comprised of only 2 elements: hydrogen and carbon.[1] Hydrocarbon molecules have one or
more central carbon atoms in a branched or chain-like structure, surrounded by hydrogen atoms. There
are four main categories of hydrocarbons: Alkanes, Alkenes, Alkynes, and Aromatic hydrocarbons.[2]

Structure

An alkane is a type of hydrocarbon that contains only single bonds between the central carbon atoms.
Alkanes are true hydrocarbons, meaning they contain only hydrogen and carbon atoms.[1] Alkanes are
also referred to as saturated hydrocarbons since they have the maximum number of hydrogen atoms
per carbon atom, versus the unsaturated hydrocarbons (alkenes and alkynes) which contain fewer
hydrogen atoms per carbon atom.[2]

Alkanes have the molecular formula CnH2n+2, where n refers to the number of carbon atoms, and can
be any natural number (1, 2, 3, …).

Take for example the three simplest alkanes:

While these examples are very simple alkanes, larger molecules can be branched or cyclic (containing a
ring of carbon atoms). The names of all alkanes end with the suffix -ane (e.g. methane). The chemical
name of an alkane will include information about the number of carbons in the molecule (such as in the
example molecules above) and their arrangement (whether there are branches on the central carbon
chain, for example). [6]

When two molecules have same molecular formula, but have the atoms arranged in a different way,
they are called structural isomers. For example, both butane and 2-methylpropane shown below have
the same molecular formula C4H9, but have the carbon atoms arranged differently.
The major components of fossil fuels are hydrocarbons, including alkanes such as methane (CH4) – the
major component of natural gas, propane (C3H8) – commonly used as BBQ fuel, butane (C4H10) -often
used as lighter fuel and octane (C8H18) – an important component of gasoline.

Alkyne is one of the four main types of hydrocarbons. Alkynes must contain at least one carbon to
carbon triple bond in their chain. Alkynes are true hydrocarbons, meaning they are made up of nothing
but hydrogen and carbon.[1]

Alkynes are based on the formula CnH2n-2, where

C is Carbon.

H is Hydrogen.

N refers to the number of carbon atoms.

Alkynes are similar to Alkanes except they contain a triple bond between two carbon atoms instead of a
double bond. When one carbon shares a triple bond with another, this limits the number of hydrogen
which can be bonded (resulting in less hydrogen atoms per carbon atom).

The three simplest alkynes are ethyne (C2H2), propyne (C3H4) and butyne (C4H6

An aromatic hydrocarbon, or an arene, is one of the four main types of hydrocarbons. Aromatics are
true hydrocarbons, meaning these molecules are made up of only hydrogen and carbon. Aromatics are
unsaturated rings, meaning that they have at least one double bond between the carbon atoms. The
name “aromatic” was conceived from the tendency of such compounds to have a strong fragrance.[3]

The simplest arene is benzene which has the molecular formula (C6H6). Benzene is a ring of 6 carbon
atoms that alternate single and double bonds between the carbon atoms with a single hydrogen
attached to each carbon. There are many of these aromatic hydrocarbons in various fuels like gasoline,
diesel and kerosene (jet fuel).