I was reading about the gas leak in the US, and I got curious about the difference in the gases.
I decide I wanted to find out what natural gas actually is. Turns out it is a Mix of Methane, butane and propane plus other minor pollutants. So farts and motorhome heating fuel.
They take the butane, propane and ethane out leaving the Methane which they sell to your house. LPG is a mix of butane and propane the ratio dictated by the temperature.
What I found most interesting is that carbon has 4 covalent bonds. It can link to 4 other atoms. I knew Silicon was tetravalent from my electronics days but didn't realise carbon was as well.
Methane has 1 carbon atoms and is bonded to 4 hydrogen atoms.
Ethane has 2 carbon atoms and is bonded to 6 hydrogen atoms.
Propane has 3 carbon atoms and is bonded to 8 Hydrogen atoms.
Butane has 4 carbon atoms and is bonded to 10 Hydrogen atoms.
I didn't realise how symmetrical and beautiful the hydrocarbons were.
Not sure why I am sharing this, I just found it fascinating and thought some you might as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane
Oh and ethane is almost alcohol. insert an oxygen atom in between one of the carbon -> hydrogen bonds and you have ethanol which is the falling over liquid...
These wiki articles make for an interesting read.
I decide I wanted to find out what natural gas actually is. Turns out it is a Mix of Methane, butane and propane plus other minor pollutants. So farts and motorhome heating fuel.
They take the butane, propane and ethane out leaving the Methane which they sell to your house. LPG is a mix of butane and propane the ratio dictated by the temperature.
What I found most interesting is that carbon has 4 covalent bonds. It can link to 4 other atoms. I knew Silicon was tetravalent from my electronics days but didn't realise carbon was as well.
Methane has 1 carbon atoms and is bonded to 4 hydrogen atoms.
Ethane has 2 carbon atoms and is bonded to 6 hydrogen atoms.
Propane has 3 carbon atoms and is bonded to 8 Hydrogen atoms.
Butane has 4 carbon atoms and is bonded to 10 Hydrogen atoms.
I didn't realise how symmetrical and beautiful the hydrocarbons were.
Not sure why I am sharing this, I just found it fascinating and thought some you might as well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butane
Oh and ethane is almost alcohol. insert an oxygen atom in between one of the carbon -> hydrogen bonds and you have ethanol which is the falling over liquid...
These wiki articles make for an interesting read.
.