Question

What happens when methane (natural gas) burns in air? Write the chemical equation of the reaction of the reaction involved.

Answer 1

The reaction between a hydrocarbon and oxygen that is air results in formation of two basic chemical components. One is found in abundant quantities in nature and another is a product of the respiration process.

Complete answer:
The reaction which we have here deals with two reactants. So first let us see what those two reactants are. The first one is methane whose chemical formula is $C{H_4}$ and the second one is air which is nothing but oxygen $({O_2})$ .
The burning of methane results in the formation of a blue flame which is a sign that a great amount of heat is also evolved. This makes methane a good fuel source. This is a reaction of hydrocarbons with air so it will evolve carbon dioxide and water. So now let us write down the chemical reaction.
$C{H_4} + {O_2} \to C{O_2} + {H_2}O$
But we observe that the above reaction is not balanced. We see that only carbon atoms are balanced on both sides. For balancing oxygen and hydrogen atoms we can put two with oxygen molecules on the reactant side and two with water molecules on the product side. So the resulting reaction would be
$C{H_4} + 2{O_2} \to C{O_2} + 2{H_2}O$
Methane being the simplest hydrocarbon yet depicts the basis for combustion reaction for all other hydrocarbons.

Note:
This is a combustion reaction. This combustion reaction is special because its heat of combustion is lower than combustion of any other hydrocarbon. This reaction is the basis for a major part of the world's energy. Combustion of methane is used for food cooking, heating water and for many essential purposes. Combustion of methane should be avoided in a closed environment as it causes severe health problems.