Ethane Sigma Bond Rotation Conformers
[caption id="attachment_14316" align="alignright" width="440"] Methane Ball & Stick Model[/caption] Methane is the smallest molecule consisting of just carbon and hydrogen, CH₄. The second smallest hydrocarbon is ethane, C₂H₆. It is sometimes written H₃C–CH₃. The “dash” between the two carbon atoms represents a single bond. It is also a sigma bond. What is a sigma bond? And what are ethane sigma bond rotation conformers? What is a Sigma Bond? The carbon to carbon single bond is a covalent bond. That is, bonding electrons lying between the two carbon atoms are shared equally. A sigma bond is the strongest variety of covalent bond. The two atoms overlap head-on. One could view such a bond as being of cylindrical symmetry or like a straight line between the two atoms. Hence, the dash notation.…