What is methane?
A: Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula CH4 (one carbon
atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms).
It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the
main constituent of what?
A: Natural gas.
The relative abundance of methane on Earth makes it an
economically attractive what?
A: Fuel, although capturing and storing it poses technical challenges.
Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground
and under what?
A: The seafloor and is formed by both geological and biological processes.
The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor
in the form of what?
A: Methane clathrates.
When methane reaches the surface and the atmosphere, it
is known as what?
A: Atmospheric methane.
The Earth's atmospheric methane concentration has
increased by about 150% since what year?
A: 1750.
Methane accounts for 20% of the total radiative forcing
from all of what?
A: The long-lived and globally mixed greenhouse gases.
In November 1776, methane was first scientifically
identified by whom?
A: Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in the marshes of Lake Maggiore
straddling Italy and Switzerland.
Volta was inspired to search for the substance after
reading what?
A: A paper written by Benjamin Franklin about "flammable air".
Volta collected the gas rising from the marsh, and by
1778 had isolated what?
A: Pure methane.
He also demonstrated that the gas could be ignited with
what?
A: An electric spark.
The name "methane" was coined in 1866 by whom?
A: The German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann.
The name was derived from what?
A: Methanol.
Methane is an odorless gas and appears to be what?
A: Colorless.
It does absorb visible light especially at the red end
of the spectrum due to what?
A: Overtone bands, but the effect is only noticeable if the light path is
very long.
This is what gives Uranus and Neptune their what?
A: Their blue or bluish-green colors, as light passes through their
atmospheres containing methane and is then scattered back out.
How is the familiar smell of natural gas as used in
homes achieved?
A: By the addition of an odorant, usually blends containing tert-butylthiol,
as a safety measure.
As a gas, it is flammable over what range of
concentrations in air at standard pressure?
A: 5.4–17%.
Methane is nontoxic, yet it is extremely flammable and
may form what?
A: Explosive mixtures with air.
Methane is also an asphyxiant if the oxygen
concentration is reduced to below what?
A: About 16% by displacement, as most people can tolerate a reduction from
21% to 16% without ill effects.
Methane off-gas can penetrate the interiors of
buildings near what?
A: Landfills and expose occupants to significant levels of methane.
Some buildings have specially engineered recovery
systems below their basements to do what?
A: To actively capture this gas and vent it away from the building.
Methane gas explosions are responsible for many what?
A: Deadly mining disasters.
A methane gas explosion was the cause of the Upper Big
Branch coal mine disaster in West Virginia on April 5,
2010, killing how
many?
A: 29.
Natural gas accidental release has also been a major
focus in the field of safety engineering, due to past accidental releases
that concluded what?
A: In the formation of jet fire disasters.