Question

Which of the following statements about the conformations of acyclic alkanes is not true?

a.The staggered and eclipsed conformations are equally stable.
b.The staggered conformations are more stable than the eclipsed conformations.
c.An energy minimum and maximum occur every 60" as the conformation changes from staggered to eclipsed.
d.Conformations that are neither staggered nor eclipsed are intermediate in energy

Answer 1

The statement that is not true about the conformations of acyclic alkanes is that the staggered and eclipsed conformations are equally stable.

Step-by-step explanation:

The statement that is not true about the conformations of acyclic alkanes is: a. The staggered and eclipsed conformations are equally stable. The staggered conformations are actually more stable than the eclipsed conformations. This is because the eclipsed conformation has higher energy due to the steric interactions between the bulky groups. On the other hand, the staggered conformation has lower energy because the bulky groups are farther apart. The energy difference between these two conformations is referred to as the torsional strain.