What is the size of a crude oil molecule?

Answer 1

"Oil molecule" isn't well defined, nor is "diameter" in this case. Please be more specific about what compound you're talking about. Knowing how you want the "diameter" to be measured is also important.Petroleum ("oil" in the pump-it-out-of-the-ground-and-turn-it-into-gasoline sense) is mostly C5 and above alkanes (up to, say, C40 or so). These can be either long straight chains or branched chains. The diameter of the chain at a non-branching point is a couple of Angstroms; from end to end the chain might be up to 30 Angstroms or so.

Oils in the food sense are mostly shortish-chain saturated carboxylic acid triglycerides, or slightly longer-chain unsaturated carboxylic acid triglycerides. Again, the diameter of any of the carboxylic acid chains will be about two Angstroms, and from end to end ... 30 Angstroms isn't a completely unreasonable guess.

In both cases, the chains are unlikely to be stretched out straight, but rather will be folded back on itself in some complicated way. It's difficult to predict the "diameter" of the folded chain (which almost certainly will not be a sphere), and it will constantly be changing anyway.

Answer 2

the size of a molecule depends on its constituent atoms.

the radius of an atom is 10 angstrom.

by rahul

Answer 3

there is no exact size, they are all different.

Answer 4

The size of a crude oil molecule can vary, but they typically have a molecular weight range from 200 to 600 Atomic Mass units. This corresponds to a physical size on the order of 1 to 2 nanometers.

Answer 5

Most likely the size of a molecule.

Answer 6

1.7*1010 meters

Answer 7

6