Ethane vs. Ethanol — What's the Difference?

Ethane ( or ) is an organic chemical compound with chemical formula C2H6. At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas.

Ethanol (also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic chemical compound. It is a simple alcohol with the chemical formula C2H6O. Its formula can be also written as CH3−CH2−OH or C2H5OH (an ethyl group linked to a hydroxyl group), and is often abbreviated as EtOH. Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a slight characteristic odor.

A colourless, odourless, flammable gas which is a constituent of petroleum and natural gas. It is the second member of the alkane series.

See alcohol.

A colorless, odorless gaseous alkane, C2H6, that occurs as a constituent of natural gas and is used as a fuel and a refrigerant.

(organic compound) A simple aliphatic alcohol formally derived from ethane by replacing one hydrogen atom with a hydroxyl group: CH₃-CH₂-OH.

An aliphatic hydrocarbon, C₂H₆, gaseous at normal temperatures and pressures, being a constituent of natural gas.

Specifically, this alcohol as a fuel.

The same compound, subjected to modification by replacing one or more of the hydrogen atoms with other radicals.

The organic compound C2H5.OH, the common alcohol which is the intoxicating agent in beer, wine, and other fermented and distilled liquors; called also ethyl alcohol. It is used pure or denatured as a solvent or in medicines and colognes and cleaning solutions, or mixed in gasoline as a fuel for automobiles, and as a rocket fuel (as in the V-2 rocket).

A gaseous hydrocarbon, C2H6, forming a constituent of ordinary illuminating gas. It is the second member of the paraffin series, and its most important derivatives are common alcohol (ethyl alcohol), acetaldehyde, ether, and acetic acid. Called also dimethyl.

The intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors; used pure or denatured as a solvent or in medicines and colognes and cleaning solutions and rocket fuel; proposed as a renewable clean-burning additive to gasoline

A colorless odorless alkane gas used as fuel