Nomenclature (word root ). Give some unbranched Chains and their names.

Word Root

            The word root represents the number of carbon atoms in the parent chain. For the chains upto four carbon atoms special word roots are used whereas for the chains containing more than four carbon atoms, Greek numerals (Table 1) are used. The word roots for different carbon chains are derived by leaving ‘ane’ from the name of carbon chain of respective molecule.

 Some unbranched Chains and their Names

            The word root of one carbon chain is obtained by leaving ane from methane i.e., meth–and similarly for others e.g.

                                    C1       Methane                    Meth-

                                    C2       Ethane                       Eth-

Hello Student

Word root represents the number of carbon atoms in the parent chain. For the chains upto four carbon atoms special word roots are used whereas for the chains containing more than four carbon atoms, Greek numerals (Table 1) are used. The word roots for different carbon chains are derived by leaving ‘ane’ from the name of carbon chain of respective molecule.

Some unbranched Chains and their Names


The word root of one carbon chain is obtained by leaving ane from methane i.e., meth–and similarly for others e.g.

C1 → Methane → Meth-
C2 → Ethane → Eth-

I hope this answer will help you.