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Methane - CH4

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Methane is a colorless, odorless, and highly flammable gas.2 It is the simplest member of the alkane series and the primary component of natural gas.3 Because it is found in marshes and wetlands, it is often historically referred to as "marsh gas
History: Methane was scientifically identified and isolated by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta between 1776 and 1778. In November 1776, while vacationing at Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy, Volta observed gas bubbles rising from the stirred-up sediment of the marshes. Inspired by a paper by Benjamin Franklin regarding "flammable air," Volta collected the gas in jars and discovered that, unlike other known "airs" of the time, this specific gas was highly combustible and burned with a blue flame. He initially named it aria infiammabile nativa delle paludi (inflammable air native to marshes).