What are the Two Structural Formulas For Butane?

Butane has 2 structural formulas which we have written up here on the board.

Now, the first thing to keep in mind is the molecular formula of butane which is 4 carbon atoms and 10 hydrogen atoms so you’ll notice that both these structural formulas incorporate 4 carbon atoms and 10 hydrogen atoms so right here we have 1-2-3-4 carbon atoms and then 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10; hydrogen atoms and it’s the same case over here. 1-2-3-4 carbon atoms and then for the hydrogen atoms we have 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10.

Now over here it is a straight train butane and so we call it normal butane or we can abbreviate it and call it n-butane and then this structural formula right here we call isobutane. So we have n-butane and we have isobutane and those are the two structural formulas for butane.