Question

Question #056cc

Answer 1

See below..

Explanation:

The simplest reason would be steric hindrance, As the branching increases, it becomes more difficult for the attacking reagent to the attack the carbon atoms. As the reactivity decreases, stability increases.

Also branched alkanes have lower heats of combustion than the straight chained compounds, therefore less potential energy. The less potential energy causes more stability, because then activation energy for reactions would be higher (Kinetic effect).