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how to differentiate between ethanol and ethanoic acid on basis of chemical properties?

Differences between ethanol and ethanoic acid:

EthanolEthanoic acid
1. It is an alcohol with pleasant and sweet smell.1. It is an acid with pungent smell.
2.It does not affect litmus paper.2. It turns blue litmus paper to red by producing H+ion
3.It does not give brisk effervescence (release of CO2) with NaHCO3 (sodium bicarbonate)

3. It produces CO2 with Sod. bicarbonate as

CH3COOH + Na HCO3  -> CH3COONa + CO2 ↑ + H2O

4. It does not react with NaOH (strong alkali)

4. It reacts with NaOH to give salt and water as:

CH3COOH + NaOH ->  CH3COONa + H2O

5.It reacts with alkaline KMnO4 to give ethanoic acid.5. It does not react with alkaline KMnO4

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CHEMICAL TEST

Simply add a base, such as sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3)....also known as baking soda.

Ethanoic acid (also known as acetic acid) is the acidic component of vinegar. We all know what happens when we add baking soda and vinegar, right? Lots and lots of bubbles and foam (from the carbon dioxide released during the reaction):

NaHCO3 (s) + CH3COOH (ethanoic acid) -----> CH3COONa (aq) + H2O + CO2 (g)

Ethanol will not react with sodium bicarbonate and thus you won't observe much of anything happen when you add the two together.

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