Question

How are larger alcohol molecules formed?

A) By adding water to smaller alcohol molecules.
B) By removing water from smaller alcohol molecules.
C) By a chemical process called fermentation.
D) By heating smaller alcohol molecules.
E) None of the above.

Answer 1

B) Larger alcohol molecules are formed by removing water from smaller alcohol molecules through a dehydration reaction, not by adding water, heating, or fermentation processes.

Step-by-step explanation:

Larger alcohol molecules are primarily formed by dehydration reactions. This involves removing water, which means answer B) 'By removing water from smaller alcohol molecules' is correct. It is important to understand that this type of chemical reaction occurs when an alcohol undergoes dehydration in the presence of a catalyst, forming an alkene and water. The reaction specifically removes the OH group from the carbon atom of the alcohol and a hydrogen atom from an adjacent carbon atom. In industrial settings, alcohols can also be synthesized through other chemical processes, such as the addition reaction of water with ethylene in the presence of an acid catalyst. However, fermentation, which is another process altogether, primarily produces alcohols such as ethanol from pyruvic acid and is not directly related to combining smaller alcohol molecules to create larger ones.