(1) Methylpropane or 2-methylpropane. That's what some people call it anyway. You can call it Fred if you like. There are those who will think you're clever.
So hey, this stuff is an isomer (chemical variant) of CH4H10 that's found in natural gas. No — the natural gas that comes out of the ground, not that other kind that you make at home.
Isobutane as we're talking about it is used as a propellant in aerosol sprays such as hair spray and cooking sprays. It also replaced Freon in refrigeration systems. True. Get a hot stove burner and then shoot flammable gas all over the stove, or gas your hair while smoking or even being in the general vicinity of a spark (FIREBALL!!!). Replace Freon, a fire-suppressing chemical with flammable gas. (GREAT idea!!! Let's do it NOW!!!)
And, of course, this stuff is also sold in pressurized canisters as fuel for backpacking and camping stoves. (Almost makes you want to yawn, right?)
(2) A fuel used in canister stoves. An isomer of butane with a lower boiling point that provides an almost constant level of pressure even if a canister is nearly empty.
(3) A fuel used in canister stoves. (Heard this one before?)
It is an isomer of butane (The simplest alkane with a tertiary carbon!) with a lower boiling point than butane's, which provides a more constant level of pressure even if a canister is nearly empty.
Isobutane is also used as a more environmentally-benign refrigerant than chlorofluorocarbons or hydrofluorocarbons, which eat ozone, and as a propellant for the products inside aerosol cans, such as hair spray.
So there you are... You already have the hair spray, and if you have a comb too, and a bear grabs you by the leg, you can bargain your way out by offering an impromptu perm job. Maybe. If the bear isn't that hungry. And doesn't really have time to properly kill you. And you can run really fast when it finds out that its new 'do will only stay put for around sixteen minutes, max, because it just doesn't hold on greasy fur, and tastes only half as good as bug poison when you try to lick yourself clean.
Example: "Ike sold isobutane down by the icy shore. And burned it too to make soup and stew."
Have anything worth adding? Then try sosayseff@gmail.com
Me? Never touch the stuff. My hair's good as-is.
Etc...
so says eff: sporadic spurts of grade eff distraction
definitions: outdoor terms
fiyh: dave's little guide to ultralight backpacking stoves
boyb: dave's little guide to backpacks
snorpy bits: nibbling away at your sanity
last seen receding: missives from a certain mobile homer
noseyjoe: purposefully poking my proboscis into technicals