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Organic Chemistry - Prefixes and Chemical Formulas for Straight Chain Carbon Compounds
The following are the prefixes for the first ten straight chain carbon backbone:
meth-, CH3 -
eth-, CH3CH2 -
prop-, CH3CH2CH2 -
but-, CH3CH2CH2CH2 -
pent-, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2 -
hexa-, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2 -
hept-, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2 -
octa-, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2 -
nona-, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2 -
deca-, CH3CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2CH2 -
A short hand form of the above is deca-, CH3(CH2)9 -
If the above is used in as a substituted functional group, the name will end in "yl-".
[NYU website showing the first several alkanes 3-D structure and general info]