Abstract Already in the elementary school,
on the chemistry classes, students are told that the general
formula of alkanes is $C_nH_{2n+2}$. No proof of this claim is
offered, either then or at any higher level. We now show how this
formula can be proven in a mathematically satisfactory manner. To
do this we have to establish a number of elementary properties of
the mathematical objects called trees. ![Creative Commons License](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/80x15.png)
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