Aluminium carbide

Aluminium carbide is an ionic compound with formula Al₄C₃. It reacts with water to produce methane and aluminium hydroxide.

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Hydrolysis: Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction in which water breaks bonds in a substance. Water decomposes aluminium carbide, forming methane and aluminium hydroxide.
Chemical formula: A chemical formula represents the types and relative numbers of atoms in a substance. Al₄C₃ specifies four aluminium atoms for every three carbon atoms.
Aluminium smelting: Aluminium smelting extracts metallic aluminium from alumina by electrolytic reduction. Aluminium carbide can form as an unwanted product in carbon-lined aluminium-production cells.
Silicon carbide: Silicon carbide is a hard ceramic compound of silicon and carbon, with formula SiC. Unlike aluminium carbide, it resists hydrolysis under ordinary conditions.
Methane: Methane is the simplest alkane, with molecular formula CH₄. It is the gaseous product released when aluminium carbide reacts with water.
Ionic compound: An ionic compound consists of oppositely charged ions held together by electrostatic attraction. The formal Al³⁺ and C⁴⁻ ions account for its stoichiometry.
Aluminium carbide abrasives: Aluminium carbide is a hard ceramic sometimes used as an abrasive material. Its hardness supports abrasive applications, although water sensitivity limits use.
Calcium carbide: Calcium carbide is an ionic compound, CaC₂, that reacts with water to produce acetylene. It also generates a hydrocarbon on hydrolysis, but the gas is acetylene rather than methane.
Aluminium hydroxide: Aluminium hydroxide is an inorganic compound with formula Al(OH)₃. It forms alongside methane during aluminium carbide hydrolysis.
Oxidation state: An oxidation state is a formal charge assigned to an atom using agreed electron-allocation rules. Aluminium is +3 and carbon is −4 in the ionic accounting of Al₄C₃.