Multiple choice

Heating a mixture of calcium acetate and sodalime gives

  1. methane

  2. ethane

  3. acetic acid

  4. benzene

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

The dry distillation of calcium acetate with soda lime (NaOH + CaO) produces methane through decarboxylation. Each acetate ion loses CO2 to form a methyl group, which then combines with hydrogen from the reagents to give methane (CH4). This is a classic laboratory method for alkane synthesis.