Question

Are alcohols flammable?

Answer 1

Hint: A substance is said to be flammable iff it is capable of catching fire or burning easily like wood. But if a substance does not catch the fire or burns out easily then they are said to be inflammable like water. For the flammability the most important condition is the ignition temperature and the availability of the oxygen.

Complete answer:
A substance which burns out easily is said to be flammable like alcohol. Any substance is said to be flammable iff it has a low ignition temperature. Ignition temperature is the minimum temperature required to burn out. Another important condition of flammability is the presence of external oxygen. Fire only burns till it gets the external oxygen supply, iff the supply is somehow disrupted there would be no more spread of fire.
Alcohols are widely used as flammables like in petrol, diesels, gasoline’s, sanitizers, etc. All consists of the alcohol in them.
Alcohols are flammable because of its better tendency to accept free hydrogen free radicals.

Note :
When a person is burning, do not throw water on him/her because here hydrogen gas will liberate and the molecular oxygen will react to form the oxygen gas thus increasing the content of oxygen. In such a situation try to apply wet or dry cloth to the person as the supply of the oxygen would be hamper and the life of the fire will end. However it is to remember that never allow a person to cook food or use fire after the use of sanitizer as sanitizers are also flammable.