isomers
Hydrocarbons are compounds that contain only carbon and hydrogen atoms. The smallest hydrocarbon, methane CH 4 , contains just one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Larger hydrocarbons contain many more. Hydrocarbons with four or more carbon atoms can have different shapes. Although they have the same chemical formula, with the same numbers of carbon and hydrogen atoms, they form different compounds, called isomers . Isomers are compounds whose properties are different because their atoms are bonded together in different arrangements.