What is the difference between polyethene and polyethane?
The reason it is called polyethene (or polyethylene) is because it was produced from the monomer of ethylene. To produce polyethylene, a radical initiator is added to ethylene, which attacks one carbon and opens up the double bond leaving a radical at the end. This radical attacks another ethylene molecule, etc. The chain stops forming when it encounters another radical. So, from ethylene, we get polyethylene (even though it looks like polymethylene).