Question

what is denatured alcohol??

Answer 1

Hi,

Ethanol is the alcoholic drink which is heavily taxed to prevent people from drinking it. That';s why a bittering agent (like methanol) is added to ethanol to make it unfit for drinking. This way the tax on ethanol is reduced.

It is done so as ethanol apart from being an alcoholic beverage is used in many laboratory and industrial operations. Denaturing the ethanol does not alter its properties to be used as reagent in industries and laboratories. Instead it reduces tax burden.