Worksheet 10.
3
Alcohols
1 When ethanol vapour is passed over heated aluminium oxide, a dehydration reaction takes place and ethene
gas is formed.
a Write the equation for this reaction using the structural formulae.
b What is meant by a dehydration reaction?
c Draw a diagram of suitable apparatus for carrying out this reaction in the lab.
d In industry, ethanol can be made by a reaction which is the reverse of the one above. Ethene and steam are
reacted together in the presence of phosphoric acid at high temperature and pressure.
i Write the equation for this reaction.
ii What type of reaction is this?
iii What is the function of the phosphoric acid?
© Cambridge University Press 2014 IGCSE® Chemistry Worksheet 10.3 1
e The ethanol produced by the method in d is pure but the method is expensive.
i What alternative method is available for the large-scale production of ethanol?
ii Give one advantage (other than cost) and one disadvantage of this method compared with the method
in d.
2 a Ethanol is a member of a homologous series.
i Which homologous series is ethanol a member of?
ii What is the general formula of the series?
iii What is the functional group of the series?
b There are two isomers of the alcohol propanol.
i What is the molecular formula of propanol?
ii Draw the two structural formulae of the isomers of propanol, and give their names.
© Cambridge University Press 2014 IGCSE® Chemistry Worksheet 10.3 2
