Question

Ethanoic acid is the IUPAC name of acetic acid.
a.) True
b.) False

Answer 1

Hint: Start this question by breaking up the name of ethanoic acid. As the name suggests, ethanoic acid is made from ‘eth-’ and ‘-oic acid’. It is one of the simplest carboxylic acids. It is made from some ‘acetic acid bacteria’.

Complete step by step answer:
Let us try to draw the structure of ethanoic acids by breaking up the name of the compound. It is made up of -
‘eth-’ which indicates that the compound is made up of two carbons.
‘-an-’ which indicates that the compound is an alkane.
‘-oic acid’ which indicates that the compound is a carboxylic acid.
Now, let us draw the structure of the compound.

Ethanoic acid is commonly known as acetic acid, which is derived from the Latin word ‘acetum’.
It is a weak acid, because it does not dissociate completely in aqueous solution. Acetic acid dissociates as –
\[C{{H}_{3}}COOH\rightleftharpoons C{{H}_{3}}CO{{O}^{-}}+{{H}^{+}}\]
It is a monoprotic acid (releases one proton in aqueous solution).
Therefore, the answer is – option (a) – The given statement is true.

Additional Information:
Vinegar is 4% acetic acid by volume. It has a pKa of around 4.7. It has a very distinctive sour taste and pungent smell.

Note: Acetic acid is generally produced from bacterial fermentation, more specifically - Acetobacter. The substrate can be fermented grain, malt, rice or potato masher. It is made by carbonylation of methanol (introduction of CO in methanol). It is also produced from oxidation of acetaldehyde.