Carbon chemistry is also called organic chemistry. This is because most carbon compounds are obtained from living organisms.

You will spend a lot of time on this topic and this is because there are more compounds of carbon than all the other elements put together! This is because carbon is the only element than can form strong bonds to other carbon atoms. There is no limit to the numbers of carbons that can be joined together, and they can join together in an unlimited number of different patterns.

Before we look at organising and naming all these different compounds, let us first find out where we find these compounds.

1. Fossil Fuels.

Visit the following site and read through the notes.

BBC Bitesize - How Crude Oil Was Formed -

Then test your understanding of this topic using:

BBC Bitesize - How Crude Oil Was Formed Quiz -

You should now be an expert on the sources of carbon compounds!
Crude oil is however a complex mixture of up to one hundred compounds and must be purified before we can use it. This is done using a process known as fractional distillation.

2. Fractional Distillation.

Then read through the notes on the purification of crude oil.
You can then try the test at:

BBC Bitesize - Fractional Distillation -