Methane

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Structural formula of methane. C is carbon and H is hydrogen. The lines show that the atoms are joined by chemical bonds.

A picture to show simply how the atoms may fill space. The black is carbon and the white is hydrogen.

Methane is a compound that is a gas at room temperature. Its molecular formula is CH₄, so it has one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms in a molecule. It is often found as the main part of natural gas.

[edit] Uses

Methane can burn. You can use methane in natural gas to cook your food on a stove.

[edit] Production

It can be produced in a few ways. People can get natural gas by digging deep in the ground, and they can refine it into methane. Or petroleum can have fractional distillation to make methane.