You are a compound in the laboratory. You find that it is made up of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a ratio of two hydrogen atoms for each carbon atom. How will you classify the compound?

Question

Caleb Adams · Accepted Answer

It's a carbohydrate! Well funnily the way the question is phrased: you are a carbohydrate, since you are the compound

Since the question specifies that the compound is composed solely of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, the options for macromolecules are limited to lipids or carbohydrates. Carbohydrates have a fixed ratio of two hydrogen atoms for every carbon and oxygen atom, whereas lipids do not.

Cameron Andrews · Answer

You nailed it. Without further details, you could be discussing any of these four... and there are even some exceptions because of varying degrees of unsaturation.

There are always exceptions, whether it's some carbohydrates, saturated esters, saturated carboxylic acids, or saturated ketone!

#"Carbohydrate": "C"_n"H"_(2n)"O"# general formula, does NOT always hold!

#"Saturated Ester": "H"_3"C"("CH"_2)_n"COO"("CH"_2)_n"CH"_3# general formula, does NOT always hold!

The general formula for "saturated carboxylic acid" is "H"_3"C"("CH"_2)_n"COOH".

#"Saturated Ketone": "H"_3"C"("CH"_2)_n"CO"("CH"_2)_n"CH"_3# general formula

Any of these have a #"C":"H"# ratio of #1:2#. I've listed some examples below.

CARBOHYDRATE ILlustRATIONS

ESTER ILLUSTRATIONS

Examples of Carboxylic Acids

KETONE ILlustRATIONS

Serenity Allen · Answer

undefined Based on the given information, the compound can be classified as an organic compound, specifically a hydrocarbon.