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Acetic Acid Vs Isopropanol Essay

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Acetic acid and isopropanol, often called isopropyl alcohol, are very similar, but also have their differences in many ways. The acetic acid structure is made up of two different central atoms: carbon and oxygen. There is a total of three central atoms for this certain structure: two carbon and one oxygen. One carbon has four bonds connected to it with zero lone pairs, making it a tetrahedral shape. The second carbon has three atoms bonded to it with two lone pairs, making it a trigonal planar shape. The oxygen atom only has two atoms bonded to it with two lone pairs causing it to have a linear geometric shape. The isopropanol structure is also made up of two different central atoms: carbon and oxygen. There is a total of four central atoms …show more content…

This oxygen atom has 4 atoms bonded to it with two lone pairs making it’s molecular shape linear. The similarities in these two molecular structures are that they both are composed of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. At least one of their central atoms has the tetrahedral shape and also a linear shape. Both of the oxygen atoms in each structure are the atoms with the lone pairs. The differences between the two structures are that the isopropanol molecule has more bonds than the acetic acid. The oxygen atom in the isopropanol molecule is bonded to hydrogen while the oxygen atom in the acetic acid molecule does not bond to hydrogen. Polarity has an affect on the physical property of a chemical by giving the compound characteristics of a cohesion or an adhesion. A cohesion is the sticking together of particles of the same substance. An adhesion is when dissimilar particles stick together. Acetic acid is a cohesion because it is able to stick to other objects and itself due to it’s polarity. Isopropanol is an adhesion because it is nonpolar and has the tendency to stick to dissimilar substances. The polarity of a substances affects is

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