What's the difference between alcohol and ethanol?

Answer 1

There are many alcohols, ethanol is just one of them. Ethanol contains two carbon atoms. Methanol, which is toxic, contains one and rubbing alcohol, or isopropanol, contains three.
Indy cars run on methanol, but I guess flex-fuel vehicles use mainly ethanol. That's probably because ethanol is the alcohol generated from fermentation, whereas methanol needs to be synthesized

Answer 2

Let's get simple with your answers....I am an artist and can purchase Ethanol for cheap, but Ethyl alcohol is more expensive. I need something that is not toxic to inhale while painting with the liquid to create soft washes with my pastel pigments, like watercolor painters do with their paints. I am using alcohol to keep the wrinkling of the paper to a minimum and for quick evaporation to speed up the process. Sooooo... should I purchase Pure Ethyl Alcohol for my purposes to avoid toxic fumes as I have already read about ethanol....AND NO! I don't need a chemist carbon chain explanation as to the flash point or the etiology of where it stands on the periodic table of elemental atomic particles, and how long it would take to kill you! Just Kidding

Answer 3

Methanol, Ethanol, Propanol, Butanol, Pentanol, Hexanol are belong to the alcohol group.

Answer 4

In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. The general formula for a simple acyclic alcohol is CnH2n+1OH.
Generally, the word alcohol, when used alone, usually refers to ethanol, also known as grain alcohol or (older) spirits of wine. Ethanol is a very strong and unique smelling, colorless, volatile liquid formed by the fermentation of sugars. It also often refers to any beverage that contains ethanol (see alcoholic beverage). It is the most widely used depressant in the world, and has been for thousands of years. This sense underlies the term alcoholism (addiction to alcohol).
Other forms of alcohol are usually described with a clarifying adjective, as in isopropyl alcohol (propan-2-ol) or wood alcohol (methyl alcohol, or methanol). The suffix -ol appears in the official chemical name of all alcohols.


Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol or grain alcohol, is a flammable, colorless, slightly toxic chemical compound with a distinctive perfume-like odor, and is best known as the alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol. Its molecular formula is variously represented as EtOH, CH3CH2OH, C2H5OH or as its empirical formula C2H6O.

Answer 5

Alcohol is a more general term--it includes more types of alcohol than just ethanol (i.e. methanol--rubbing alcohol). Ethanol is the stuff in beer and liquor.

Answer 6

Ethanol is one type of alcohol. There are many others like methanol (wood alcohol) which will make you blind and kill you if you drink it. There is isopropol alcohol, the stuff hospitals use as a disinfectant.

Answer 7

Doesn't anyone see the real conspiracy here? All this "alcohol as an alternative fuel" bull isn't about Global Warming. It is a secret conspiracy of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers to kill two birds with one stone!

"Don't Drink It, Burn It!"

;-)
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Answer 8

ethanol is an alcohol, but there are other alchohols too, like methanol

Answer 9

ethanol uses corn

Answer 10

ethonal is made out of corn and alchol is made out of many other products. they are both from the same family and are really similar.