What is the meaning of the two in ethyl alcohol, #C_2H_5OH#?

1 Answer
anor277
May 11, 2016

The subscript gives the number of atoms in the chemical formula.

Explanation:

Ethyl alcohol, #C_2H_5OH#, is a carbon chain of #2# carbon atoms, with an oxygen chemically bound to one end of the chain.

We could represent this is in the formulation:

#H_3C-CH_2-OH#

Carbon 1 (from the left) is bound to 3 hydrogens and to C2. C2 is bound to C1, 2 hydrogens and an oxygen atom. Because it is easier to write #C_2H_5OH# than the whole chain, it is a convenient representation.

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