You are given a liquid sample that contains methanol,ethanol,or a mixture of both.You use combustion analysis of a 0.336 g sample and obtain 0.462 g of CO₂.What did you learn about your sample?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The combustion of methanol and ethanol results in different products. Methanol combustion produces only water and carbon dioxide, while ethanol combustion also produces acetic acid. The presence of CO₂ indicates the presence of acetic acid, which means the sample is not pure methanol. Therefore, the sample must be a mixture of methanol and ethanol, but since the amount of acetic acid produced is relatively small, it is safe to assume that the sample contains more methanol than ethanol.

You Are Given a Liquid Sample That Contains Methanol,ethanol,or a Mixture