alkane vs ethane

alkane and ethane both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
alkane	Yes	No	No	No
ethane	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, ethane is a hyponym of alkane; that is, ethane is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than alkane:

alkane: a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2)
ethane: a colorless odorless alkane gas used as fuel

Other hyponyms of alkane include butane, amine, aminoalkane, C2H6, heptane, hexane, methane.

alkane (noun)	ethane (noun)
a series of non-aromatic saturated hydrocarbons with the general formula CnH(2n+2)	a colorless odorless alkane gas used as fuel