Question

Natural gas mainly consists of:
A.${C_2}{H_6}$
B.$C{H_4}$
C.${C_3}{H_3}$
${C_4}{H_{10}}$

Answer 1

Natural gas is naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas consisting of varying amounts of higher alkanes. It mainly consists of a gas which is formed when organic decay is trapped under the soil.

Complete step by step answer:

Natural gas is majorly composed of methane $CH_4$ Methane gas is a combination of hydrogen and carbon which is formed when plants, animals and organic matter is trapped beneath the sedimentary layer of earth.
Natural gas is produced in 32 states. The top producing states are Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Wyoming and Louisiana. These states produce more than $50$ percent of U.S natural gas.
There are certain disadvantages of natural gas:
Natural gas is a non- renewable source of energy which ultimately means that we will be out of natural gas one day.
Burning gas produces carbon dioxide gas $C{O_2}$ and hence pollute the air.
Gas is highly inflammable which means there is a risk of leak which can result in explosions.
Gas infrastructure is expensive as there is a risk of leakage and a significant amount of money is required to construct.
Odorant is added to a gas so that leakage is detected.
Natural gas is economical to extract and easily accessible and hence considered to be conventional. It is found in other geological settings and is not always also easy or practical to extract.
Therefore, Option B is correct and natural gas mainly consists of $C{H_4}$.

Note:
Natural gas is a mixture of four naturally occurring gases all of them have different molecular structures. It consist of $70 - 80\;\%$ of methane $\left( {C{H_4}} \right)$ along with ethane $\left( {{C_2}{H_6}} \right)$ , butane $\left( {{C_4}{H_{10}}} \right)$ , propane $\left( {{C_3}{H_8}} \right)$.