A hydrocarbon (organic compound made of carbon and hydrogen only) with atoms arranged in a ring structure with only single bonds.
Cyclo- (Greek kyklos, 'circle') + alkane (from alkali, suffix -ane for saturated hydrocarbons). The term emerged as chemists classified hydrocarbons by structure in the 19th century.
Cycloalkanes like cyclohexane are everywhere—they're in your gasoline, your furniture, your food containers—and their ring shape affects their physical properties in ways linear alkanes never could.
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