Chemistry of alkanes and cycloalkanes

At the end of this activity, students should be able to:
– understand why alkanes and cycloalkanes are chemically inert
– understand the energy profile for the combustion of alkanes
– know the conditions leading to homolytic fission of the C–C bond
– understand the mechanism of free–radical substitution
– know about the influence of the type of halogen on substitution in alkanes
– know the basic methods for alkane and cycloalkane synthesis.