What is the chemical formula for methane?

What is the chemical formula for methane?

• A. CH4
• B. CH3
• C. CH2
• D. C2H6

Answer: (A)

Methane is a saturated hydrocarbon where carbon forms four bonds and hydrogen usually forms one bond. To satisfy carbon’s valence of four, one carbon atom bonds with four hydrogen atoms, giving four C–H bonds. That exact arrangement is written as CH4, one carbon and four hydrogens. The other formulas would imply incomplete bonding or a different molecule: CH3 would leave carbon with only three bonds, CH2 would be even more under-bonded, and C2H6 represents two carbons with six hydrogens (ethane), not methane.

Methane is a saturated hydrocarbon where carbon forms four bonds and hydrogen usually forms one bond. To satisfy carbon’s valence of four, one carbon atom bonds with four hydrogen atoms, giving four C–H bonds. That exact arrangement is written as CH4, one carbon and four hydrogens.

The other formulas would imply incomplete bonding or a different molecule: CH3 would leave carbon with only three bonds, CH2 would be even more under-bonded, and C2H6 represents two carbons with six hydrogens (ethane), not methane.