Methane (marsh gas)
Metano (gas de los pantanos)
- Date
- 1776 · confidence high
- Place
- Lake Maggiore, Italy
- Credited to
- Alessandro Volta
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
Volta collected the gas bubbling up from the marshes of Lake Maggiore and showed that it ignited when a spark was brought near it, identifying it as a flammable gas distinct from hydrogen. It was the first hydrocarbon to be scientifically characterised.
The name 'methane' was coined by August Wilhelm von Hofmann in 1866, almost a century after Volta identified the gas.
What it led to
- Organic chemistry of hydrocarbons
- Industrial exploitation of natural gas and biogas
- Studies of anaerobic fermentation and marsh gases