(a) What happens when methane reacts with chlorine? Give equation of the reaction which takes place.
(b) What is hydrogenation? What is its industrial application?
(c) Give any two differences between soaps and detergents.
(a) Methane reacts with chlorine in the presence of sunlight to form chloromethane and hydrogen chloride. This reaction is called substitution reaction.
CH4 + Cl2 + Sunlight → CH3Cl + HCl
(b) The addition of hydrogen to an unsaturated hydrocarbon to obtain a saturated hydrocarbon is called hydrogenation.
Application: Vegetables oils are hydrogenated to form vegetable ghee (or vanasapati ghee).
(c) Soaps:
(i) Soaps are biodegradable.
(ii) Soaps have relatively weak cleansing action.
Detergents:
(i) Detergents are not biodegradable.
(ii) Detergents have a strong cleansing action.