Potential energy, kinetic energy would be if they were already running
The chemical bonds in CH4 are all single bonds. C only can bond 4 times because it needs 8 electrons in it's outer shell and only has four right now. The bonds represented are all single bonds because there are two electrons present on each side of the carbon. Two electrons, in this case, equals one bond.
Particles in a gas are far apart compared to a solid or liquid, allowing it not to have a definitive shape or volume. This also means that gases can fill any container and be easily compressed.
Instruments
The specific type of instruments depends on the type of laboratory that you're working in: some labs for example use electron microscopes, others use mass spectrophotometers, others use multiplex biochemical analyzers, etc. But very broadly, the specialized tools we use in the laboratory are usually referred to as "instruments"
Electrons determine the chemical properties. Protons and neutrons are in the nucleus the number of protons determines the number of electrons of an atom
