Carbon And Its Compounds Class 10 Notes Chemistry Science
Chapter 4

What are Carbon and its Compounds?
The study of carbon compounds is called organic chemistry.
Carbon is a non-metal having atomic number 6.
Bonding in carbon : Covalent bonding is present in carbon.

Number of carbon atoms in one molecule | Greek name (AlK) |
One carbon atom | Meth |
Two carbon atoms | Eth |
Three carbon atoms | Prop |
Four carbon atoms | But |
Five carbon atoms | Pent |
Six carbon atoms | Hex |
Seven carbon atoms | Hept |
Eight carbon atoms | Oct |

1. Hydrocarbons: An organic compound containing only carbon and hydrogen atoms. | 9. Homologous series: A homologous series is a group of organic chemical compounds, usually listed in order of increasing size, that have a similar structure (and hence also similar properties) and whose structures differ only by the number of CH2 units in the main carbon chain. |
2. Allotropy: The phenomenon of existence of two or more different physical forms of a chemical element. | 10. Esterification: The chemical reaction that takes place during the formation of an ester is called esterification. Ester is obtained by an esterification reaction of an alcohol with carboxylic acid. |
3. Catenation: The property of self linking of elements to form a long chains of compounds. | 11. Saponification: A chemical reaction in which an ester is heated with an alkali to make soap. |
4. Tetravalency: Tetravalency is the state of an atom in which there are four electrons available with the atom for covalent chemical bonding. | 12. Soaps: Soaps are sodium and potassium salts of long chain of fatty acids such as stearic acid, palmitic acid etc. |
5. Saturated hydrocarbons: A substance in which the atoms are linked by single bonds. | 13. Detergents: They are ammonium or sulphonate salts of long chain hydrocarbons. |
6. Unsaturated hydrocarbons: A substance in which atoms are linked by double or triple bond. | 14. Hydrophobic substance: “Water fearing”. Hydrophobic compounds do not dissolve easily in water, and are usually non-polar. |
7. Isomers: Compounds having similar molecular formula but different structure are known as Isomers. | 15. Hydrophilic substance: Having an affinity for water; capable of interacting with water through hydrogen bonding. |
8. Isomerism: The phenomenon in which the compounds have the same molecular formula and different structural formula is known as Isomerism. |