Methane Essay

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Introduction
Methane is a chemical compound which has the chemical formula CH4. It is the main constituent of the natural gas (50% - 90%) and this is the reason why it is considered as a very important chemical compound in Qatar which depends economically on the exportation of natural gas. On the other hand it has many harmful effects on the earth such as global warming. Methane was discovered by Alessandro Volta in 1776 when he read some papers about flammable air which pushed him to study more about the gas in that phenomena. He noticed some the swamp gas bubbling from a lake next to his house from that moment he also discovered that it can be burned easily He called it “inflammable air from marshlands”, today we call it Methane. Fig 1 (Gas flame)
Chemical and …show more content…

2- Stability: chemically it is very stable gas to the extent that it doesn’t react when it is treated with HNO3, K2Cr2O7, and KMnO4.
3- Those are some other physical properties methane is an odourless, colourless, tasteless gas that is lighter than air. It is a non-polar molecule and is insoluble in water. It dissolves in non-polar solvents like alcohol.

Sources of Methane
Methane has anthropogenic and natural sources. It is produced with the decay of organic materials under some specific conditions when the oxygen is lacked. For example in cattle stomachs, wet rice fields and waste deposits. Also methane is realised while pumping oil, mining coal and burning the forests generates some amounts of methane. Pumping oil can result in the emissions of very large amount of methane since it is the primary source for the methane, it is emitted also while transporting, processing, distribution and the transportation of the natural gas. The following chart shows the percentages of the sources of methane.

Fig3(Methane sources

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