ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Hydrocarbon mixtures

Hydrocarbon mixtures are kind of like a bag of different toys. Each toy is different, but they all belong in the same bag. In hydrocarbon mixtures, instead of toys, there are different types of molecules called hydrocarbons. Just like toys, each hydrocarbon is different, but they can all be found together in the same mixture.

Now, let's imagine that each toy in the bag is made up of building blocks. Hydrocarbons are also made up of building blocks called carbon and hydrogen atoms. Just like how different toys can have different amounts of building blocks, different hydrocarbons can have different amounts of carbon and hydrogen atoms.

Some hydrocarbons have just one type of building block, either only carbon or only hydrogen. These are like toys made up of just one type of building block. Other hydrocarbons have different numbers of carbon and hydrogen atoms, like if some toys had a lot of green blocks and only a few blue blocks.

These hydrocarbon mixtures can be found in different places, like in fuels such as gasoline, natural gas or diesel. These fuels are made up of hydrocarbon mixtures and different fuels can have different amounts and types of hydrocarbons, just like different bags of toys can have different types and amounts of toys.

Overall, hydrocarbon mixtures are just like bags of different toys, but instead of being made up of toys, they are made up of different types of molecules called hydrocarbons, which are like building blocks made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms.