I'm not sure this will address your trouble because I'm a little confused by the question. However, for a beginner, here are the basics.
Carbon has a valence of 4; therefore, there will ALWAYS be four bonds attached somehow and someway. We can't draw diagrams on these boards but I can try to explain a couple of them.
For diethylmethylmethane do the following:
Draw a methane molecule.
  H
  |
H-C-H
  |
  H
(I hope that comes out well enough but of course you know how to draw methane, anyway.)
Now, remove one of the H atoms and replace it with a -CH3 group. Then remove another of the H atoms from the original CH4 structure and replace it with -C2H5 group. Do the same with another of the original H atoms. That gives you a central C with 1 H attached, two C2H5 groups attached, and a CH3 group attached.
I hope this helps but don't hesitate to let me know if this isn't what you were looking for.
I'm a beginner in the subject. It's a category that is overviewed in my AP Chem class. I need some help understanding the following:
dimethyl-n-butylmethane
diethylmethylmethane
diethyldimethylmethane
trimethylisobutylmethane
diethylisopropylmethane
dimethylisopropylmethane
...to be continued.
Basically, I understand the ethyl, methyl, butyl, and methane compounds on their own, but I don't know how to contruct them. From there, I might be able to find each isomer and use the IUPAC nomenclature to name them. We were introduced to the subject in class, given homework, and just sort of expected to do it. I'm very lost, and starting to doubt my understanding of chemistry.
Help?
3 answers
The structure didn't come out quite right. Here is another go at it.
  H
  |
H-C-H
  |
  H
  H
  |
H-C-H
  |
  H
A little better. You get the idea.
1 answer