Final answer:
Alkanes engage mainly in combustion reactions due to their stability, only reacting when there is heat or light to initiate the highly exothermic reaction with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide, water, and heat, making them excellent fuels.
Step-by-step explanation:
Alkanes react primarily through combustion reactions due to their stable but nonreactive nature. They do not react readily with other chemicals like acids, bases, or strong oxidizing or reducing agents. However, alkanes are excellent fuels because, in the presence of oxygen and an ignition source such as heat or light, they undergo highly exothermic oxidation-reduction reactions.
This reaction breaks the C-H or C-C bonds, leading to the formation of carbon dioxide (CO₂), water (H₂O), and the release of a significant amount of heat. For instance, the combustion of methane (CH₄), the main component of natural gas, follows this reaction: CH₄ + 2O₂ → CO₂ + 2H₂O + heat. Crude oil, the primary source of alkanes, is processed to separate and use various alkanes as fuels like methane, butane in camping stoves, and the alkanes in gasoline, kerosene, diesel oil, and fuel oil by fractional distillation.