Making alcohol - Everyday consumer products - National 4 Chemistry Revision - BBC Bitesize (2024)

FAQs

How is alcohol made in BBC bitesize? ›

Ethanol is produced by fermentation. and concentrated by fractional distillation. close fractional distillationThe separation of components of a mixture by heating the mixture to form a gas and allowing the difference components to condense at different temperatures. Yeast provides the enzymes required for fermentation ...

Ethanol and water are the main components of most alcoholic beverages, although in some very sweet liqueurs the sugar content can be higher than the ethanol content.

Alcohols can be prepared by the hydration of alkenes or by the reduction of aldehydes, ketones, acids, and esters. The elements of water can be added to the double‐bonded carbons of an alkene in either a Markovnikov's or an anti‐Markovnikov's manner.

Everyday consumer productsAlcohols and carboxylic acids

Alcohols are used as fuels and solvents. Carboxylic acids are used in the preparation of soaps, medicines and preservatives.

The Science Behind Alcoholic Fermentation

That alcohol fermentation process begins with hungry yeast cells feasting on sugar and breaking it down into pyruvate molecules. (The scientific name for that step is glycolysis.) As the yeast breaks down the sugars, the glucose molecules turn into pyruvic acid molecules.

Ethanol's chemical formula is C2H6O. This chemical formula can also be written as CH3CH2OH or C2H5OH. It is made of nine atoms that include two carbon (C) atoms, six hydrogen (H) atoms, and one oxygen (O) atom.

Methanol is the primary alcohol that is the simplest aliphatic alcohol, comprising a methyl and an alcohol group.

Fermentation - Yeast is added to ferment the sugar into ethanol. This ethanol fermentation process leaves a product that is about 10-15% alcohol. Distillation - Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water, so to make it purer it is evaporated and condensed in a process known as distillation.

carboxylic acids

…from C₁₂ to C₁₈ (lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic), are present in the fats and oils of many animals and plants, with palmitic and stearic acids being the most prevalent. Lauric acid (C₁₂) is the main acid in coconut oil (45–50 percent) and palm kernel oil (45–55 percent).

Carboxylic acids occur in many common household items. (a) Vinegar contains acetic acid, (b) aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, (c) vitamin C is ascorbic acid, (d) lemons contain citric acid, and (e) spinach contains oxalic acid.

What are 3 examples of carboxylic acids? ›

Beer, wine and cider are made through a fermentation process. Fermentation is a natural biological process in which yeast changes sugar into alcohol. It makes drinks with lower alcohol concentration (4% to 15%). Spirits, such as gin, rum, vodka, and whiskey, are made through distillation.

Alcohol molecules all contain the hydroxyl (-OH) functional group. They are a hom*ologous series and have the general formula C_nH_2n+₁OH. Their names all end in -ol.

Fermentation: Fermentation is the metabolic process through which a microorganism transforms a carbohydrate such as starch or sugar into an alcohol or acid. Yeast, for example, ferments sugar into alcohol to obtain energy.