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ethene

ethene

8.4
A colorless flammable gas used to make plastics and ripen fruit
  • noun
  • /ˈiːθiːn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : etileno
  • Ethene is commonly used in the production of ethene polyethylene, a widely used plastic.

Examples

  • So here we see now the hydrogens are popping off and going to reduce ethene over here.

  • So we need to distinguish this and the name for this radical when we take ethylene or ethene is called vinyl vinyl.

  • The chemical reactions involving ethene are important in the manufacture of various chemicals.

  • In the laboratory, scientists often demonstrate reactions with ethene to showcase its properties.

Synonyms

ethylene
vsethene
  • Specialized
8 7.9

A colorless gas that burns easily and is used to make plastics and ripen fruit

is the alternate name used for the same gas

How Flammable

ether
  • Archaic
4 8.4
gasoline
  • US
318 1.6
ethene
  • Specialized
8.4
ethanol
  • Specialized
66 4.1

Surface Forms

ethene singular
ethenes plural

Morphology

ethene = ethylene (opaque) = eth + ene

The form is built from the technical combining form 'eth-' (two-carbon unit) plus the chemical suffix '-ene' (alkene), a specialized naming convention not obvious to average learners.

Etymology

Ethene comes from two parts: ethyl ('two-carbon group') and the ending -ene ('a chemical ending for a kind of hydrocarbon'). So ethene literally names the small two-carbon gas (also called ethylene), which explains why it is a simple, flammable building block used to make plastics and to help ripen fruit.