Question

Question 7
How can ethanol and ethanoic acid be differentiated on the basis of their physical and chemical properties?

Answer 1

Ethanol and ethanoic acid be differentiated on the basis of their following properties:

• Ethanol is liquid at room temperature with a pleasant smell. Ethanoic acid has a melting point of ${17}^{\circ }\text{C}$. Since the melting point is below the room temperature, ethanoic acid freezes during winter and it has a smell similar to vinegar.
• Ethanol does not react with metal carbonates while ethanoic acid reacts with metal carbonates to form salt, water and carbon dioxide.
  For example:
  $2{\text{CH}}_3\text{COOH}+{\text{Na}}_2{\text{CO}}_3\to 2{\text{CH}}_3\text{COONa}+{\text{CO}}_2+{\text{H}}_2\text{O}$
• Ethanol does not react with NaOH while ethanoic acid reacts with $\text{NaOH}$ to form sodium ethanoate and water. For example,
  ${\text{CH}}_3\text{COOH}+\text{NaOH}\to {\text{CH}}_3\text{COONa}+{\text{H}}_2\text{O}$
• Ethanol is oxidized to give ethanoic acid in presence of acidified ${\text{KMnO}}_4$ while no reaction takes place with ethanoic acid in presence of acidified ${\text{KMnO}}_4$.