Ethylene

Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon–carbon double bonds).

thumb|140px|The repeating unit within polyethylene in the most stable staggered conformation

chemical reaction