Question

Conversion of ethanol to ethene by the action of concentrated sulphuric acid is an example of _________.

Answer 1

• When the Ethanol (${\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}$) reacts with concentrated Sulphuric acid (${\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4$), it will produce Ethene (${\mathrm{CH}}_2={\mathrm{CH}}_2$) and Water (${\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}$) molecule.
• Due to this loss of Water molecule from the Ethanol, it is known as a dehydration reaction.
• The reaction is shown below:

$\underset{\mathrm{Ethanol}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_3{\mathrm{CH}}_2\mathrm{OH}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Sulphuric}\mathrm{acid}}{\mathrm{conc}.{\mathrm{H}}_2{\mathrm{SO}}_4\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}\to \underset{\mathrm{Ethene}}{{\mathrm{CH}}_2={\mathrm{CH}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)}+\underset{\mathrm{Water}}{{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)}$