In organic chemistry, an alkane, or paraffin , is an acyclic saturated hydrocarbon. In other words, an alkane consists of hydrogen and carbon atoms arranged in a tree structure in which all the carbon–carbon bonds are single. Alkanes have the general chemical formula .mw-parser-output .template-chem2-su{display:inline-block;font-size:80%;line-height:1;vertical-align:-0.35em}.mw-parser-output .template-chem2-su>span{display:block;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output sub.template-chem2-sub{font-size:80%;vertical-align:-0.35em}.mw-parser-output sup.template-chem2-sup{font-size:80%;vertical-align:0.65em}CnH2n+2. The alkanes range in complexity from the simplest case of methane , where n = 1 , to arbitrarily large and complex molecules, like pentacontane or 6-ethyl-2-methyl-5- octane, an isomer of tetradecane .