What is alcohol? Detailed answer

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What is alcohol? Detailed answer

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What is alcohol?

There are many different alcohols. The most famous and widespread among them is ethyl alcohol contained in alcoholic beverages. Ethyl alcohol is made from starch and sugar. It can also be obtained from wheat, rye, corn, vegetables and fruits. When starch serves as a raw material, it first turns into sugar, from which, during fermentation, ethyl alcohol is obtained. In Ireland, for example, alcohol is produced from potatoes, and in the United States, molasses is the main raw material.

Did you know that alcohol can be used as a fuel? It can even serve as a substitute for gasoline in car engines. In this case, it is often used in a mixture with other substances. This was the case during the Second World War in those countries where the shortage of gasoline was especially acute.

Although alcohol is lighter than water, nevertheless, these two liquids are easily mixed in various ratios, forming solutions that freeze at a lower temperature than water. Such mixtures are called antifreezes and are used in car radiators.

Alcohol is widely used as a solvent, for example, in the manufacture of varnishes. It is used in the preparation of painkillers such as chloroform and ether, and in the production of many substances: dyes, medicines, liquid ointments and vinegar.

Alcohol is an antiseptic, that is, a disinfectant and anti-putrefactive substance, and therefore many degradable specimens are stored in it in museums and hospitals.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

What metal is the best conductor?

Silver.

The best conductor of heat and electricity is also the most reflective of all chemical elements. The main disadvantage of silver is that it is too expensive. The only reason we use copper wires instead of silver wires in our electrical equipment is because copper, the second most conductive element, is much cheaper.

In addition to jewelry, silver is mainly used in the photographic industry, long life batteries and solar panels.

Silver has the curious ability to sterilize water. And it takes literally a tiny amount - ten parts per billion. This amazing fact has been known since ancient times: for example, in the XNUMXth century BC. e. Herodotus wrote about the Persian king Cyrus, who constantly carried with him a personal supply of water taken from a special source, boiled and sealed in silver vessels.

Both the Romans and the Greeks noted more than once that food and drink placed in silver dishes last much longer. The strong bactericidal qualities of silver have been used for many centuries before the bacteria themselves were discovered. This may explain why silver coins are often found at the bottom of ancient wells.

A word of caution before you start pouring beer into your silver mug.

First, although silver will kill bacteria in the laboratory, it is far from certain that it will give the same effect once inside you. Many of the supposed virtues of silver are still unconfirmed. And the US Food and Drug Administration has even banned companies from advertising the health benefits of silver.

Secondly, there is such a disease - argyria. Its development is directly related to the ingestion of silver particles dissolved in water into the human body. The most obvious symptom of argyria is a distinct blue tint to the skin.

On the other hand, silver salts are the safest substitute for chlorine in swimming pool water, and in the United States, track and field athletes' socks are even soaked with silver to keep their feet from smelling.

Water is an exceptionally poor conductor of electricity, especially pure water, which, by the way, is used as a dielectric. The thing is that electricity is not conducted by H molecules.₂O, and chemicals dissolved in water - for example, salt.

Sea water conducts electricity a hundred times better than fresh water, but even so, it is a million times worse conductor of electricity than silver.

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