Alkane

Description

A compound in the homologous series of saturated, aliphatic hydrocarbons with the basic formula of (CnH2n+2). Examples are methane, ethane and propane. See also paraffin, and aliphatic hydrocarbon.

Authority

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998