Discuss in detail about the conformations exhibited by ethane.

Explanation

Conformations of ethane:
The two tetrahedral methyl groups can rotate about the carbon- carbon bond axis yielding several arrangements called conformers. Extrene conformations are staggered and eclipsed conformation. There can be number of other arrangements between staggered and eclipsed forms and their arrangements are known as skew forms.
Eclipsed conformation :

In this conformation, the hydrogen's of one carbon are directly behind those of the other. The repulsion between the atoms is maximum and it is the least stable conformer.
Staggered conformation :
In this conformation, the hydrogens of both the carbon atoms are far apart from each other. The repulsion between the atoms is maximum and it is the most stable conformation.
Skew conformation :
The infinite numbers of possible intermediate conformations between the two extreme conformations are referred as skew conformations.
The stabilites various conformation of ethane are
Staggered `gt` skew `gt` Eclipsed
The potential energy difference between the staggered and eclipsed conformation of ethane is around `12.5kJmol^(-1)`. The various conformations can be represented by new man projection formula.