Properties

Physical Appearance

Ethanol is a clear, colorless liquid with a unique odor that you have probably smelt before. The taste of ethanol is described as "burning" in your mouth. Interestingly the reason that beer and other alcoholic beverages have color at all is because the crops used in the fermentation process leave behind some pigments that color the liquid.

Red grapes create red wine while green grapes create white wine. White wine can also be made from skinning grapes before fermentation. This removes the pigments found inside grape skin.

Beer is another example of this as it is mostly brown due to grain pigments left during fermentation.

Common Properties

Liquid Density: 0.79: Less dense than water (1).

Vapor Density: 1.59: More dense than air (1).

Viscosity: 1.074 mPas: Barely more viscous than water (1)

Melting Point: -173 F / -114 C

Boiling Point: 173 F / 78 C

Molecular Weight: 46.07 g/mol

Ethanol is also highly flammable.

Biological Properties

Ethanol is considered an “endocrine disrupting compound” which means it interrupts your body’s ability to communicate with itself and reduces the activity of your central nervous system. This makes you drowsy, weakens your muscles, slows your reaction speed, and makes it harder to function as a human being.

Ethanol injures cells through the dehydration and precipitation of cytoplasm and protoplasm.

Cytoplasm and protoplasm is the liquid inside every cell that allows for the movement of proteins. Ethanol makes it harder for cells to do their basic biological functions that keep them alive. This is why Ethanol is a good disinfectant and antibacterial agent. This is also why ethanol burns when using alcohol wipes on open wounds, and when drinking ethanol.

Despite the wide use of ethanol in drinking products, it can cause serious eye irritation if any gets in there, so just don't throw it at people.

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