Question

What are the products obtained after the combustion of methane called?

Answer 1

Hint: It is the reaction of methane \[\left( C{{H}_{4}} \right)\] with oxygen \[\left( {{O}_{2}} \right)\]. Methane or natural gas is a hydrocarbon and think of the products formed by the combustion of a hydrocarbon. It is going to be an oxidation reaction.

Complete answer:
Reaction of an element or compound with oxygen to form an oxide and produce heat is called combustion. Hydrocarbons (A compound containing only hydrogen and carbon) burn with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water with release of a large amount of heat and light. This heat will become a source of energy for us and can be used to heat water, cook food, generate electricity and run vehicles.
Let’s see the combustion of methane \[\left( C{{H}_{4}} \right)\]
\[C{{H}_{4}}\left( g \right)+2{{O}_{2}}\left( g \right)\to C{{O}_{2}}\left( g \right)+2{{H}_{2}}O\left( g \right)\] + Heat and Light
Therefore, methane on combustion or reaction with oxygen gives carbon dioxide, water, heat and light. The water and carbon dioxide released in this reaction get escaped in the form of vapour or steam.
Combustion reaction cannot take place in the absence of oxygen. It has to be present if you want the combustion to take place.
So if you have a bottle of petrol or diesel open to the atmosphere which contains oxygen, why does it not burn then? It is because every reaction needs to overcome some amount of energy so as to start the reaction and this energy is called the activation energy. Thus, we need to provide some energy just to kickstart the reaction and the sources of this energy can come from matchstick, friction, electrical spark etc.

Note:
Whenever heat is produced during any chemical reaction, the reaction is called exothermic reaction and combustion is a highly exothermic reaction and whenever heat is absorbed during a chemical reaction, the reaction is called endothermic reaction.