Question

Solve this:

11. What happens when:

a) ethanol is burnt in air.
b) ethanol is heated with excess conc. H₂SO₄
c) a piece of sodium is dropped in ethanol
(give reactions for all the above )

Answer 1

The reactions are as follows:

(i) When alcohol is burnt in air, Carbon dioxide and water is formed. The reaction is as follows:

CH_​3CH₂OH (aq) + 3 O₂(g) $\underset{∆}{\to }$ 2 CO₂ (g) + 3 H₂O (l)

(ii) When ethanol is treated with concentrated sulphuric acid, ethene is formed, releasing water. The reaction is as follows

CH₃CH₂OH (aq) $\stackrel{H_{2}S{O}_4}{\to }$ CH₂=CH₂ (g) + H₂O (l)

(iii) The reaction of Sodium with ethanol is as follows:

2 CH₃CH₂OH (aq) + 2 Na (s) $\to$ 2 CH₃CH₂O^- Na⁺ (aq) + H₂(g)