A perfume chemist is studying compounds from two homologous series, the alcohols and the carboxylic acids.
Relative atomic masses: C = 12, H = 1, O = 16
Alcohol X has a relative formula mass of 102. The general formula of the alcohols is CnH2n+1OH\mathrm{C_{n}H_{2n+1}OH}CnH2n+1OH. Determine the molecular formula of X.
Alcohol X is oxidised to a carboxylic acid. Give the molecular formula of this carboxylic acid.
Pentanol burns completely in air.
2C5H11OH(l)+15O2(g)→10CO2(g)+12H2O(l)\mathrm{2C_{5}H_{11}OH(l)} + \mathrm{15O_{2}(g)} \rightarrow \mathrm{10CO_{2}(g)} + \mathrm{12H_{2}O(l)}2C5H11OH(l)+15O2(g)→10CO2(g)+12H2O(l)
Calculate the volume of carbon dioxide produced at room temperature and pressure when 2.20 g of pentanol burns completely. The volume of 1 mol of any gas at room temperature and pressure is 24 dm3\mathrm{dm^{3}}dm3.
When propanol is heated with a catalyst, it is dehydrated to form propene. Butanol is dehydrated in the same way. Give the formula of the organic product and describe a test that would show this product is unsaturated.
Butanoic acid has the same relative formula mass as pentanol. Explain why, using the molecular formulae of both compounds.
43 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Chemistry 10.4 Alcohols and carboxylic acids, covering 10.4.1 Alcohols and the -OH functional group, 10.4.2 Carboxylic acids and the -COOH functional group, 10.4.3 Oxidation of alcohols and homologous series, and 10.4.4 Fermentation and fractional distillation of ethanol. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.