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Headshops Information Physical Properties of Ethanol or Alcohol

Ethanol's hydroxyl group is able to participate in hydrogen bonding. At the molecular level, liquid ethanol consists of hydrogen-bonded pairs of ethanol molecules; this phenomenon renders ethanol more viscous and less volatile than less polar organic compounds of similar molecular weight. In the vapor phase, there is little hydrogen bonding; ethanol vapor consists of individual ethanol molecules.

Ethanol has a refractive index of 1.3614.

Ethanol is a versatile solvent. It is miscible with water and with most organic liquids, including nonpolar liquids such as aliphatic hydrocarbons. Organic solids of low molecular weight are usually soluble in ethanol. Among ionic compounds, many monovalent salts are at least somewhat soluble in ethanol, with salts of large, polarizable ions being more soluble than salts of smaller ions. Most salts of polyvalent ions are practically insoluble in ethanol.

Furthermore, ethanol is used as a solvent in dissolving medicines, food flavourings and colourings that do not dissolve easily in water. Once the non-polar material is dissolved in the ethanol, water can be added to prepare a solution that is mostly water. The ethanol molecule has a water-loving (hydrophilic) -OH group that helps it dissolve polar molecules and ionic substances. The short, water-fearing (hydrophobic) hydrocarbon chain CH3CH2- can attract non-polar molecules. Thus ethanol can dissolve both polar and non-polar substances.

Several unusual phenomena are associated with mixtures of ethanol and water. Ethanol-water mixtures have less volume than their individual components: a mixture of equal volumes ethanol and water has only 95.6% of the volume of equal parts ethanol and water, unmixed. The addition of even a few percent of ethanol to water sharply reduces the surface tension of water. This property partially explains the tears of wine phenomenon: when wine is swirled inside a glass, ethanol evaporates quickly from the thin film of wine on the wall of the glass. As its ethanol content decreases, its surface tension increases, and the thin film beads up and runs down the glass in channels rather than as a smooth sheet.

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