Plural of ethane, a colorless gas made of two carbon atoms and six hydrogen atoms that burns easily and is used as fuel.
From ethane (from ether + -ane hydrocarbon suffix) + plural -s. Ethane was named as a member of the alkane family of hydrocarbons, with 'eth-' referring to two-carbon compounds and '-ane' indicating saturated hydrocarbons.
Ethane is the second simplest hydrocarbon after methane, and it's hiding in natural gas you might use at home—about 5-15% of natural gas is ethane, making it one of the most useful chemicals extracted from the Earth.
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