A colorless, flammable gas with the chemical formula C₂H₂, commonly known as acetylene, used in welding and as a chemical building block.
From eth- (two carbon atoms) + -yne (suffix indicating a triple bond between carbons). Modern IUPAC systematic name for acetylene, adopted to standardize chemical nomenclature.
Ethyne was discovered when scientists realized that calcium carbide reacting with water produced a gas that burned with such intense heat it could cut through steel—this led to oxy-acetylene torches that literally built the modern world.
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