Alkanes are saturated hydrocarbons, they are non-polar so are insoluble in water.

The first 4 alkanes follow the usual naming pattern for hydrocarbons.

Molecular formula shows the number and type of atoms present in a molecule, remember that for alkanes they will follow the general formula from before.

When naming branched hydrocarbons you must count the number of carbons in the longest carbon chain, this is the name of the alkane, and add the names of the branches to the start of the name with a number to indicate which carbon they come off of. The molecule shown is 2-methylbutane using these rules.