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AlcoholVersusEthanol

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Alcohol Versus Ethanol

ByAnneMarieHelmenstine,
Ph.D.
Doyouunderstandthe
distinction?It'sprettyeasy,
really.Ethanolorethylalcohol
isonetypeofalcohol.It'sthe
onlytypeofalcoholthatyou
candrinkwithoutseriously
harmingyourself,andthen
onlyifithasnotbeen
denaturedordoesnotcontain
Allethanolisalcohol,butnotallalcoholisethanol.SteveAllen,
toxicimpurities.Othertypesof
GettyImages
alcoholincludemethanol
(methylalcohol)andisopropanol(rubbingalcoholorisopropylalcohol).
'Alcohol'referstoanychemicalhavinganOHfunctionalgroup.Insome
cases,youcansubstituteonealcoholforanotheroruseamixtureof
alcohols.Ifaspecificalcoholismentionedforaproject,don'tmake
substitutions.Thisisespeciallyimportantifthealcoholistobeusedin
foods,drugs,orcosmetics.

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ChemicalComposition

What Are the Ingredients in Rubbing Alcohol?

RubbingAlcoholChemicalComposition

ByAnneMarieHelmenstine,Ph.D.
UpdatedJune16,2016.

Question:WhatAretheIngredients
inRubbingAlcohol?
Oneofthetypesofalcoholyoucanbuy
overthecounterisrubbingalcohol,which
isusedfordisinfectionandmaybe
appliedtotheskintoproduceacooling
effect.Doyouknowthechemical
compositionofrubbingalcohol?Itisa
mixtureofdenaturedalcohol,waterand
agentsaddedtomakethealcohol
unpalatabletodrinkandsometimes
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AlcoholVersusEthanol

colorants.Therearetwocommontypesof
rubbingalcohol.

IsopropylRubbingAlcohol
Mostrubbingalcoholismadefrom
isopropylalcoholorisopropanolinwater.
Itiscommontofindisopropylrubbing
alcoholatconcentrationsfrom68%
alcoholinwaterupto99%alcoholin
water.The70%rubbingalcoholishighly
effectiveasadisinfectant.Additivesmake
thisalcoholbittertasting,totrytoprevent
peoplefromdrinkingit.Isopropylalcohol
istoxic,inpartbecausethebody
metabolizesitintoacetone.Drinkingthis
alcoholcancauseheadache,dizziness,
nausea,vomiting,centralnervoussystem
depression,organdamageandpotentially
comaordeath.

70%isopropylalcoholisoneofthemostcommon
formulationsofrubbingalcohol.BrandXPictures/
GettyImages

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0:00

EthylAlcoholRubbingAlcohol
Theothertypeofrubbingalcoholconsistsof97.5100%denaturedethyl
alcoholorethanolwithwater.Ethylalcoholnaturallyislesstoxicthan
isopropylalcohol.Infact,itisthealcoholthatnaturallyoccursinwine,beer
andotheralcoholicbeverages.However,thealcoholisdenaturedormade
undrinkableinrubbingalcohol,bothtocontrolitsuseasanintoxicantand
becausethealcoholhasnotbeenpurifiedtomakeitsafetodrink.Infact,in
theUS,additivesmakeitastoxicasisopropylalcohol.

RubbingAlcoholintheUK
IntheUnitedKingdom,rubbingalcoholgoesbythename"surgicalspirit".
Theformulationconsistsofamixtureofethylalcoholandisopropylalcohol.

RubbingAlcoholintheUS
IntheUnitedStates,rubbingalcoholmadeusingethanolmustconformto
Formula23H,whichspecifiesitconsistsof100partsbyvolumeofethyl
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AlcoholVersusEthanol

alcohol,8partsbyvolumeofacetoneand1.5partsbyvolumeofmethyl
isobutylketone(MSDSsheet).Theremainderofthecompositionincludes
wateranddenaturantsandmayincludecolorantsandperfumeoils.
Rubbingalcoholmadeusingisopropanolisregulatedtocontainsatleast
355mgofsucroseoctaacetate(MSDSsheet)and1.40mgofdenatonium
benzoateper100mlvolume.Isopropylrubbingalcoholalsocontainswater,
stabilizerandmaycontaincolorants.

RubbingAlcoholToxicity
Thus,allrubbingalcoholmanufacturedintheUSistoxictoingest,inhaleor
applytoyourskin.Infact,ifyoureadtheproductlabel,you'llseethereisa
warningagainstmostofthecommonusesofrubbingalcohol.
Alltypesofrubbingalcohol,regardlessoftheircountryoforigin,are
flammable.Formulationscloserto70%arelesslikelytocatchfirethan
rubbingalcoholthatcontainsahigherpercentageofalcohol.
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MakeYourOwnChemicals

How To Purify Alcohol Using Distillation

PurifyingDenaturedEthanol

ByAnneMarieHelmenstine,
Ph.D.
UpdatedApril13,2016.

Thisisanexampleofasimplesetupfordistillation.PearsonScott
Foresman,publicdomain

Denaturedalcoholistoxicto
drinkandmaybeunsuitable
forsomelabexperimentsor
otherpurposes.Ifyouneed
pureethanol(CH3CH2OH),
youcanpurifydenatured,
contaminatedorimpure

alcoholusingdistillation.Here'showtodoit.

AlcoholDistillationMaterials

balance
100mLvolumetricflaskorgraduatedcylinder
distillationapparatus
250mLbeaker(orothercontainer,toreceivethedistilledalcohol)
hotplateorotherflamelessheatsource(toavoidignitingtheethanol)
boilingchips

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200mLimpureethanol(e.g.,70%denaturedalcohol)

Ifyoudon'thaveadistillationapparatusorelsearen'tsurewhatonelooks
like,Ihaveinstructionsformakingone.

AlcoholDistillationProcedure
1. Putonappropriatesafetygear,includinggoggles,glovesandprotective
clothing.

2. Weighthevolumetricflaskorgraduatedcylinderandrecordthevalue.This
willhelpyoudetermineyouryield,ifyoucaretocalculateit.

3. Add100.00mLofalcoholtothevolumetricflask.Weightheflaskplus
alcoholandrecordthevalue.Now,ifyousubtractthemassoftheflaskfrom
thisvalue,youwillknowthemassofyouralcohol.Thedensityofyour
alcoholisthemasspervolume,whichisthemassofthealcohol(the
numberyoujustobtained)dividedbythevolume(100.00mL).Younow
knowthedensityofthealcoholing/mL.

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0:00

4. Pourtheethanolintothedistillationvesselandaddtheremainingalcohol.

5. Addaboilingchiportwototheflask.

6. Assemblethedistillationapparatus.The250mLbeakerisyourreceiving
vessel.

7. Turnonthehotplateandheattheethanoltoagentleboil.Ifyouhavea
thermometerinthedistillationapparatus,you'llseethetemperatureclimb
andthenstabilizewhenitreachesthetemperatureoftheethanolwater
vapor.Onceyoureachit,donotallowthetemperaturetoexceedthestable
value.Ifthetemperaturestartstoclimbagain,itmeanstheethanolisgone
fromthedistillationvessel.Atthispoint,youcouldaddmoreoftheimpure
alcohol,ifitdidn'tallfitinthecontaineratthestart.

8. Continuedistillationuntilyouhavecollectedatleast100mLinthereceiving
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AlcoholVersusEthanol

beaker.

9. Allowthedistillate(liquidyoucollected)tocooltoroomtemperature.

10. Transfer100.00mLofthisliquidintothevolumetricflask,weightheflask
plusalcohol,subtracttheweightoftheflask(fromearlier),andrecordthe
massofthealcohol.Dividethemassofthealcoholby100togetthedensity
ofyourdistillateing/mL.Youcancomparethisvalueagainstatableof
valuestoestimatethepurityofyouralcohol.Thedensityofpureethanol
aroundroomtemperatureis0.789g/mL.

11. Ifyouwant,youcanrunthisliquidthroughanotherdistillationtoincreaseits
purity.Keepinmind,somealcoholislostduringeverydistillation,soyou'll
havealoweryieldwiththeseconddistillationandevenlessfinalproductif
youdoathirddistillation.Ifyoudoubleortripledistillyouralcohol,youcan
determineitsdensityandestimateitspurityusingthesamemethodoutlined
forthefirstdistillation.

NotesAboutAlcohol
Ethanolissoldinthepharmacysectionsofstoresasadisinfectant.Itmay
becalledethylalcohol,ethanolorethylrubbingalcohol.Anothercommon
typeofalcoholusedforrubbingalcoholisisopropylalcoholorisopropanol.
Thesealcoholshavedifferentproperties(notably,isopropylalcoholistoxic),
soifitmatterwhichoneyouneed,besurethedesiredalcoholislistedon
thelabel.Handsanitizergelsalsooftenuseethanoland/orisopropanol.The
labelshouldlistwhichtypeofalcoholisusedunderthe"activeingredients".

NotesAboutPurity
Distillingdenaturedalcoholwillremoveenoughimpuritiesformaylab
applications.Furtherpurificationstepscouldincludepassingthealcohol
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overactivatedcarbon.Thiswouldbeespeciallyhelpfulifthepointofthe
distillationistoobtaindrinkableethanol.Beverycarefuldistillingethanolto
drinkusingdenaturedalcoholasasource.Ifthedenaturingagentwas
simplyanadditiveintendedtomakethealcoholbitter,thispurificationmight
befine,butiftoxicsubstanceswereaddedtothealcohol,alesserdegreeof
contaminationmayremaininthedistilledproduct.Thisisespeciallylikelyif
thecontaminanthadaboilingpointclosetothatoftheethanol.Youcan
reducecontaminationbydiscardingthefirstbitofethanolthatiscollected
andthelastportion.Italsohelpstotightlycontrolthetemperatureofthe
distillation.Justbeaware:distilledalcoholisnotsuddenlypure!Even
commerciallyproducedethanolstillcontainstracesofotherchemicals.

LearnMore
HowToDistillEthanolfromCornorGrain
DifferenceBetweenAlcoholandEthanol
WhatIstheChemicalFormulaofEthanol?
WhatIsFermentation?

Related
HowToSetUpDistillationApparatus
WhatIsDenaturedAlcohol?
DenaturedAlcoholDefinition
WhatAretheIngredientsinRubbingAlcohol?

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