Carbons are the little black spheres with 4 equidistant holes, and hydrogens are the smaller white ones with a single hole.
And you've got all the little somewhat-flexible rods to act as chemical bonds and connect the different carbon and hydrogen atoms in any combination you like.
Octane is a generic name for most any combination you can legitimately make out of C8H18. Any of these is referred to as an octane isomer.
If you put all 8 carbons in a straight row and "saturate" the remaing holes with the 18 hydrogens, this straight-chain form in particular is referred to as Octane proper, or more descriptively to avoid confusion, normal-octane since it is a straight-chain isomer.
This normal- or n-octane is not the stuff that burns with a very good antiknock rating at all.
The one particular branched-chain C8H18 isomer having the proper name 2,2,4-trimethylpentane is the one that serves as a calibration fluid for laboratory antinock determination. Even though there are many other branched-chain C8H18 isomers possible, this one is the most commonly obtainable and carries the generic name "Iso-octane".
Carbons are the little black spheres with 4 equidistant holes, and hydrogens are the smaller white ones with a single hole.
And you've got all the little somewhat-flexible rods to act as chemical bonds and connect the different carbon and hydrogen atoms in any combination you like.
Octane is a generic name for most any combination you can legitimately make out of C8H18. Any of these is referred to as an octane isomer.
If you put all 8 carbons in a straight row and "saturate" the remaing holes with the 18 hydrogens, this straight-chain form in particular is referred to as Octane proper, or more descriptively to avoid confusion, normal-octane since it is a straight-chain isomer.
This normal- or n-octane is not the stuff that burns with a very good antiknock rating at all.
The one particular branched-chain C8H18 isomer having the proper name 2,2,4-trimethylpentane is the one that serves as a calibration fluid for laboratory antinock determination. Even though there are many other branched-chain C8H18 isomers possible, this one is the most commonly obtainable and carries the generic name "Iso-octane".
Runs smooth as butter.
Goes well with vintage MTBE.