Name the products formed when methane burns in:
(i) a sufficient supply of air
(ii) an insufficient supply of air

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Solution

(i) When sufficient air is supplied, it means an excess of oxygen ( $O_{2}$ ) is supplied. So, when methane ( $C H_{4}$ ) is burned in the presence of oxygen ( $O_{2}$ ) it yields carbon dioxide ( $C O_{2}$ ) and water ( $H_{2} O$ ) as shown below:
$\underset{M e t h a n e}{C H_{4} (g)} + \underset{O x y g e n}{2 O_{2} (g)} \to \underset{C a r b o n d i o x i d e}{C O_{2} (g)} + \underset{W a t e r}{2 H_{2} O (l)}$
(ii) When insufficient air is supplied, it means there is a very less amount of oxygen ( $O_{2}$ ) supplied. So, when methane ( $C H_{4}$ ) is burned in the presence of less oxygen ( $O_{2}$ ) it yields carbon monoxide ( $C O$ ) and water ( $H_{2} O$ ) as shown below:
$\underset{M e t h a n e}{2 C H_{4}} (g) + \underset{O x y g e n}{3 O_{2} (g)} \to \underset{C a r b o n m o n o o x i d e}{2 C O (g)} + \underset{W a t e r}{4 H_{2} O (l)}$

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