Methane is prepared in the laboratory by heating a mixture of sodium acetate and______.

Explanation

To prepare methane in the laboratory, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Identify the Reactants**:
- The question states that methane is prepared by heating sodium acetate. We need to identify the other reactant required for this reaction.
- Sodium acetate is represented chemically as CH₃COONa.

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