Chemical formula of ethylene is

Options

A. `C_2H_6`
B. `C_4H_8`
C. `C_2H_4`
D. `C_3H_5`

Answer

To determine the chemical formula of ethylene, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Understanding Ethylene**: Ethylene is a simple hydrocarbon that is classified as an alkene. Alkenes are characterized by having at least one carbon-carbon double bond.

2. **Identifying the Basic Structure**: The simplest alkene is ethylene, which consists of two carbon atoms.

3. **Counting Hydrogen Atoms**: For alkenes, the general formula is CnH2n, where n is the number of carbon atoms. Since ethylene has 2 carbon atoms (n=2), we can calculate the number of hydrogen atoms:
- Using the formula:
- Hydrogen atoms = 2n = 2(2) = 4.

4. **Writing the Chemical Formula**: Therefore, the chemical formula for ethylene is C2H4, which indicates that there are 2 carbon atoms and 4 hydrogen atoms.

5. **Verifying the Options**: Now, we can compare this with the options given:
- Option 1: C2H6 (not correct)
- Option 2: C4H8 (not correct)
- Option 3: C2H4 (correct)
- Option 4: C3H5 (not correct)

6. **Conclusion**: The correct answer is option 3, C2H4.