what does the 'n' in 'n-paraffin' mean?

Question

I know that a paraffin is an alkane, but what exactly does the n mean?

Answer 1

"n" is normal . n-paraffin means straight chain i.e. CH2--CH2--CH2--CH2--(CH2)n--

Paraffins can be arranged either in straight chains (normal paraffins, such as CH3-CH2-CH2-Ch2-CH3) or branched chains (isoparaffins, CH3-CH(CH3)-CH3). Most of the paraffin compounds in naturally occurring crude oils are normal paraffins, while isoparaffins are frequently produced in refinery processes.
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Answer 2

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RE:
what does the 'n' in 'n-paraffin' mean?
I know that a paraffin is an alkane, but what exactly does the n mean?

Answer 3

I see your difficulty - no help from Google or Wikipedia! Paraffins are a whole family of hydrogarbons called alkanes. Liquid paraffin (mineral oil in the US) is a mixture of several liquid alkanes and should be colourless and have no strong odour. However, kerosene contains lots of other non-alkane compounds, in something like the proportions shown below: Paraffins 50.5 Naphthenes 30.9 Aromatics 18.6 Definitely NOT to be drunk!

Answer 4

N-paraffin

Answer 5

The n means "any of several integers". N-paraffin might be composed of alkanes with 20 to 40 carbon atoms, all mixed together.

Answer 6

n-paraffin means 'Normal', straight-chain, saturated (single-bond) hydrocarbon molecule.
e.g. n-butane CH3-CH2-CH2-CH3.....n-C4H10

(An 'iso-paraffin' is a branch chain and therefore not 'n' - paraffin).

Answer 7

n stands for "normal", which in this context means linear.
For example, n-hexane is a straight chain of 6 carbons, with hydrogens to saturate.

Alternatives to 'normal' are 'iso', neo and 'sec'
sec-pentane is [CH3]2CH-CH2-CH3
Neopentane is [CH3]4C
iso-butane is CH3-CH[CH3]-CH3


n-hexadecane would be H-[CH2]16-H

Nothing to do with integers