A Mnemonic For Carbon Prefixes

Organic chemistry is the study of molecules containing the element carbon. Carbon is one of the most important elements in living things as it makes up the backbones of many molecules.

There are some prefixes that you should know that indicate the number of carbons in a molecule.

Meth- indicates one carbon, eth- indicates two, prop- indicates three, but- is four, pent- is five and hex- is six. For example, methane has one carbon, ethane has two, propane has three, butane has four, a pentose sugar has five carbons and a hexose has six.

A helpful mnemonic to remember these prefixes: meat eaters prefer buttered, peppered ham.

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Image Credit:
(1) Robson, Greg. “Carbon.” Wikimedia Commons, upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Electron_shell_006_Carbon_-_no_label.svg/600px-Electron_shell_006_Carbon_-_no_label.svg.png.

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