ethanol

Thân thiện

A scientist carefully pours ethanol into a beaker during an experiment.

Definition

Noun: 1. A colorless, volatile, flammable liquid: Ethanol is a type of alcohol, specifically a chemical compound (C₂H₅OH), which is the primary psychoactive ingredient in alcoholic beverages like beer, wine, and spirits. 2. A versatile solvent and fuel: It is widely used in its pure or denatured forms as an industrial solvent, in medicinal products, personal care items like colognes, cleaning solutions, and even as a biofuel or rocket fuel component. It is also proposed as a renewable, cleaner-burning additive to gasoline.

Examples of Usage

• As an intoxicating agent:
  • The fermentation process converts sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide.
  • The concentration of ethanol in distilled spirits is much higher than in beer.
• As a solvent or industrial chemical:
  • This hand sanitizer contains 70% ethanol to kill germs effectively.
  • The laboratory uses pure ethanol to dissolve organic compounds.
  • Some countries mandate the use of gasoline blended with ethanol to reduce emissions.

Advanced Usage

• "Denatured ethanol": Ethanol that has been made unfit for human consumption by adding small amounts of toxic or bad-tasting substances (like methanol or denatonium benzoate) to avoid alcohol taxes. It is used for industrial purposes.
  • We use denatured ethanol for cleaning equipment, as it is much cheaper than food-grade alcohol.

Variants and Related Words

• Ethyl alcohol (n): A synonymous technical name for ethanol.
  • The chemical formula for ethyl alcohol is C₂H₅OH.
• Bioethanol (n): Ethanol produced from biological sources (biomass) like corn or sugarcane, primarily for use as a biofuel.
  • Bioethanol is considered a renewable energy source.*

Synonyms

• Grain alcohol: Common term for ethanol, especially when distilled from fermented grains.
• Drinking alcohol: Contextual synonym when referring to its use in beverages.

Related Phrases / Compound Terms

• Ethanol fuel: Fuel for motor vehicles that contains a high percentage of ethanol.
  • Flex-fuel vehicles can run on ethanol fuel or gasoline.
• Ethanol fermentation: The biological process by which yeast converts sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide.
  • The production of wine relies on ethanol fermentation.

Học thuật

Noun

1. the intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors; used pure or denatured as a solvent or in medicines and colognes and cleaning solutions and rocket fuel; proposed as a renewable clean-burning additive to gasoline

Từ đồng nghĩa

• ethyl alcohol
• fermentation alcohol
• grain alcohol