How do carbohydrates differ from hydrocarbons?

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Answer 1 · 2015-06-13T14:26:43

Carbohydrates contain $"C"$ , $"H"$ , and $"O"$ . Hydrocarbons contain only $"C"$ and $"H"$ .

The typical general formula for a hydrocarbon is $C_n"H"_(2n+2)$ .

An example is hexane, $"C"_6"H"_14$ .

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The typical general formula for a carbohydrate is $C_n"H"_(2m)O_m$ or $"C"_n("H"_2"O")_m$ , where $n ≥ 3$ and $m$ can be different from $n$ .

The name carbohydrate comes from the formula $"C"_n("H"_2"O")_m$ (carbon + hydrate).

A typical carbohydrate is glucose, $"C"_6"H"_12"O"_6$ .

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All the polar $"OH"$ groups in carbohydrates tend to make them soluble in water.

Hydrocarbons are nonpolar and insoluble in water.