ALCOHOL: FACTS & USES

ALCOHOL: FACTS & USES

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxyl functional group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms. The first alcohol (today known as ethyl alcohol) was discovered by the tenth-century Persian alchemist al-Razi.

COMMON TYPES OF ALCOHOL

Ethanol

T he most commonly used alcohol is ethanol. Ethanol has been produced and consumed by humans for millennia, in the form of fermented and distilled alcoholic beverages. It is a clear flammable liquid that boils at 78.4 °C, which is used as an industrial solvent, car fuel, and raw material in the chemical industry.

Methanol

The simplest alcohol is methanol, which was formerly obtained by the distillation of wood and, therefore, is called "wood alcohol". It is a clear liquid resembling ethanol in smell and properties, with a slightly lower boiling point (64.7 °C), and is used mainly as a solvent, fuel, and raw material. Unlike ethanol, methanol is extremely toxic: One sip (as little as 10 ml) can cause permanent blindness by destruction of the optic nerve and 30 ml (one fluid ounce) is potentially fatal.

Isopropyl Alcohol

Isopropyl alcohol, or rubbing alcohol, dissolves oil easily. It is used in cleaning products such as the toner you use on your face or grease-cutting kitchen sprays. You can use straight rubbing alcohol to sterilize metal instruments: for instance, a pin or tweezers before using them to remove a splinter.

Butyl Alcohol

Adhesives and varnishes are traditionally made from butyl alcohol. Floor polishes and other cleaners sometimes contain it. Butyl alcohol, also known as butanol, also may be present in eye makeup, foundation and lipstick.

Do you know that…………….?

   The human body produces its own supply of alcohol naturally on a continuous basis, 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

   One glass of milk can give a person a .02 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) on a Breathalyzer test. That’s enough in some states for persons under age 21 to lose their drivers license and be fined.

   Ethyl alcohol is the only type of alcohol that is safe to consume by humans.

   Methyphobia is the term for fear of alcohol.

   The national anthem of the US, the "Star-Spangled Banner," was written to the tune of a drinking song.

   A popular drink in Cambodia is a Tarantula Brandy. You guessed it – the concoction includes rice liquor and freshly dead tarantulas. An even grosser drink than the Tarantula Brandy is the Baby Mouse Liquor found in rural Korea. This distilled rice spirit or filled with baby mice carcasses and fermented for 1 year.

   "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is commonly believed to be the only English sentence devised to include all the letters of the alphabet. However, typesetters have another such sentence: "Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs."

   Most vegetable, and virtually all fruit juices, contain alcohol.

   There is a cloud of alcohol in outer space with enough alcohol to make four trillion-trillion drinks. It's free for the taking. . . but it's 10,000 light years away from Earth.

   In Malaysia, drunk drivers are jailed and so are their spouses.