Question

Alcohols: Give its name, molecular formula, structural formula, two chemical reactions and two uses in everyday life.

Answer 1

A homologous series is a set of molecules having the same functional group and similar chemical characteristics in organic chemistry.

Alcohols are a group of hydrocarbons in which the functional group is hydroxyl ($-\mathrm{OH}$).

• Ethanol is a member of Alcohol group.
• The molecular formula of Ethanol is ${\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}$.
• The structural formula of Ethanol is given below:

Two chemical reactions of ethanol are given below:

(a) Combustion of Ethanol: Combustion of Ethanol will produce Carbon dioxide (${\mathrm{CO}}_2$) and Water (${\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$). The reaction is given below:

$\underset{\mathrm{Ethanol}}{{\mathrm{C}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_5\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Oxygen}}{3{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}}{2{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{3{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$

(b) Dehydration of Ethanol: Dehydration of Ethanol in the presence of Aluminium oxide (${\mathrm{Al}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$) will produce Ethene and Water. The reaction is given below:

$\underset{\mathrm{Ethanol}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\stackrel{{\mathrm{Al}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3}{\to }\underset{\mathrm{Ethene}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{C}={\mathrm{CH}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$

Uses of Ethanol:

• Ethanol is used as a hand sanitizer.
• Ethanol is used as engine fuel and fuel additives.