Question

Write chemical equation of the reaction of ethanoic acid with the following
(a) Sodium
(b) Sodium hydroxide
(c) Ethanol

Answer 1

Hint:
1. You should know that it is used in buffers for pH control in many laboratory applications in foodstuffs.
2. It is a colorless liquid and has a characteristic fruity smell compound, So by using this information try to solve the question.

Complete step by step answer:
Organic acids react with acids to form strong alkali metals to form strong basic salts with the liberation of hydrogen gas.

(a) Let us see the reaction of ethanoic acid with sodium metal.
As we know ethanoic acid is a weak organic acid and when it reacts with sodium metal it results in the formation of sodium ethanoate or commonly called sodium acetate and the liberation of hydrogen takes place.
$2{ CH }_{ 3 }COOH+2Na\longrightarrow 2{ CH }_{ 3 }COONa+{ H }_{ 2 }$
The product formed from the reaction is enthanote or sodium acetate.

(b) As we know sodium hydroxide is a strong base, and acetic acid is a weak acid so the chemical reaction would be :
${ CH }_{ 3 }COOH+NaOH\longrightarrow { CH }_{ 3 }COONa+{ H }_{ 2 }O$
Therefore, the product formed is sodium ethanoate.
As, we can see ethanoate is formed from a weak acid and strong base, so it is hydrolysed in the solution.
 ${ CH }_{ 3 }COOH+{ OH }^{ - }\longrightarrow { CH }_{ 3 }{ COO }^{ - }+{ H }_{ 2 }O$
Therefore, let us see the reaction of the ethanoic acid with sodium hydroxide.

(c) Let us now the reaction of ethanoic acid with ethanol:
This is basically a condensation reaction between alcohol and carboxylic acid which is a product of an ester and water.
Ester: An ester is nothing but a molecule which contains the (RCOOR) functional group.
Let us now see the reaction,
${ C }_{ 2 }{ H }_{ 5 }OH+{ CH }_{ 3 }COOH\longrightarrow { CH }_{ 3 }{ COO }{ C }_{ 2 }{ H }_{ 5 }+{ H }_{ 2 }O$
So, the product formed is Ethyl Ethanoate.

Note: Ethanoic acid is a hazardous chemical. It is highly corrosive to the skin and eyes, so it should be handled with extreme care. It can also be damaging to the internal organs if ingested or in case of vapor inhalation.