Question

What is the second member of the carboxylic acid series?

Answer 1

Carboxylic acid:

• Carboxylic acids are those hydrocarbons that contain a carboxyl functional group, $–\mathrm{COOH}$ are called carboxylic acids.
• A large number of carboxylic acids are found in nature.

Homologous series

• Homologous series refers to a set of organic compounds that have similar structural properties but differ from adjacent members by the $-{\mathrm{CH}}_2$ group.
• They have the same general formula and share the same functional group; therefore, their chemical characteristics are similar, but their physical properties differ due to differences in mass.

The second member of the carboxylic acid series:

• The first member of the carboxylic acid series is methanoic acid$\left(\mathrm{HCOOH}\right)$.
• The second member of the carboxylic acid series is Ethanoic acid$\left({\mathrm{CH}}_3\mathrm{COOH}\right)$.
• The common name of ethanoic acid is acetic acid.