methane

«methane» in Mova's school dictionary: a gas with no colour or smell that burns easily; it is… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 3 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (methane — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

Methane is a gas with no colour or smell that burns easily; it is the main part of natural gas used for cooking and heating. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons methane is a greenhouse gas that traps heat; cows, rice fields, swamps and rubbish tips give it off. Its formula is CH4: one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms. Phrases: «methane gas», «natural gas».

examples

• Methane is the main part of natural gas. tree →
• Cows burp out methane. tree →
• Methane is a greenhouse gas. tree →
• Rotting rubbish in landfills makes methane. tree →
• The gas cooker burns methane. tree →
• A methane molecule has 1 carbon and 4 hydrogen atoms; how many atoms in all? tree →

note

Uncountable. UK said MEE-thane, US METH-ane. Gas companies add a smell to natural gas so you can notice leaks — methane itself has none. Safety: if you smell gas, get out and call for help.

In the corpora

• Titan has rivers, lakes and seas, but they are filled with liquid methane and ethane, not water.
• Rotting food in a landfill gives off methane, a gas that warms the planet.
• Food rotting in a landfill gives off methane, a gas that warms the planet.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «methane» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.