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ethane

ethane

4 6.7
A colorless gas with no smell used as a fuel and to make chemicals
  • noun
  • /ˈeɪθeɪn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : etano
  • Once extracted, these liquids are separated into distinct products, or "fractions," such as propane, butane, and ethane.

So liquid methane rivers and liquid ethane lakes and vice versa.

Examples

  • More detailed theoretical modeling showed that such a surface liquid would probably be made up of ethane as well as methane, with some nitrogen gas dissolved in the mixture.

    Academic text (2004)
  • "We may also have a third type of ice, made from ethane."

    Blog text (6)
  • This is an important development as it increases Rex's access to the market for their ethane.

    Blog text (6)
  • Does the surface have lakes or seas of methane and ethane?

    Academic text (2004)
  • There was a lot more ethane and propane than their models had predicted, and surprisingly less methane.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The petrochemical complex is a huge beneficiary of lower feedstock costs in the form of ethane, a natural gas derivative.

    Blog text (6)
  • Furthermore, the composition of Titan's atmosphere is complex: it is made up primarily of nitrogen, but a variety of hydrocarbons, such as methane, ethane, ethyne, and propane, are also present.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Suddenly, the US olefins business is shifting to make these workhorse chemicals from ethane, propane, and natural-gas liquids rather than naphtha, returning to the long-time ideal feedstocks used in the US.

    Blog text (9)
  • The facility will use ethane to produce high-quality plastics and chemicals.

  • In the laboratory, scientists analyzed ethane for its potential use as a clean fuel.

Synonyms

C2H6
vsethane
  • Specialized
7.0

A colorless, odorless gas used as a fuel and to make plastics

is the common chemical name rather than the formula notation

How Big

butane
  • Specialized
9 5.5
propane
62 3.7
alkane
  • Specialized
6.7
ethane
  • Specialized
4 6.7
methane
86 3.4

Surface Forms

ethane singular
ethanes plural

Morphology

ethane = ethyl (opaque) = eth + ane

Formed from the combining form 'eth-' and the technical chemical suffix '-ane'; the parts are technical combining forms not recognizable as standalone English words for average learners.

Etymology

Ethane comes from ethyl plus the ending -ane, the same ending you see in methane and propane to name simple hydrocarbon gases. The ethyl part goes back to ether, a word for a 'very light' substance, so ethane is named as a simple, light gas related to those other fuels.