Thursday, 7 April 2016

Isopropanol


"Isopropanol. To drink, or not to drink, that is the question"
- A famous quote not by Shakespeare.
Figure 1: Chemical Formula 

What is isopropanol? 

Commonly known as rubbing alcohol, isopropanol or isopropyl alcohol is an organic compound consisting of three carbon atoms, eight hydrogen atoms, and one oxygen atom. (C3H7OH). [1]

To answer the question, no, you do not want to drink isopropanol. It is poisonous and drinking too much can lead to death. If anyone offers you some, don't try to be cool and turn it down. By drinking it, your body will slowly shut down and you will fall into a coma before death.

Now you're probably wondering why a dangerous chemical like that would be easily available to everyone. Isopropanol is widely used in products for cleaning, disinfecting, and even food services.

Why is isopropanol so useful?

Figure 2: 99.9% isopropanol
Isopropanol's multipurpose use is due to its chemical properties such as miscibility in water,  volatility, freezing point, melting point, and boiling point.[1] Miscibility in water means that isopropanol is easily mixed with water. Isopropanol can easily diluted into lower concentrations therefore multiple solutions can be made. [1] For example, there can be 70% and 90% solutions. Isopropanol also has high volatility, meaning it can evaporate quite fast. By being able to evaporate fast, isopropanol can be used as paint thinners or just disinfectant wipes. Isopropanol doesn't leave any residue behind. Isopropanol also has a low freezing point of -90°C, preventing it from turning solid, which is why it can be used as an antifreeze ingredient. [1]

Isopropanol has a variety of uses in he home. The most commonly used form is rubbing alcohol, which can be found in almost every home. It is used for cleaning surfaces by killing bacteria and it dries without leaving oils behind. [1]

Why should I care about this?

Well, it really doesn't matter if you care or not but I'm writing this to teach you about isopropanol. It is used almost everywhere so having some background knowledge won't hurt. I think science is one of the most important things to learn about everyday life. Science shows you how things work and what things are made of. The one thing to take away from this article is that you should not drink isopropanol or really any chemical with a skull and cross bones on the label.

Reference:
[1]: National Center for Biotechnology Information. (n.d.). Isopropanol. Retrieved March 30, 2016, from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/isopropanol
Figure 1: Retrieved from http://3.imimg.com/data3/BN/OG/MY-6590280/isopropanol-for-hplc-250x250.gif
Figure 2: Retrieved from https://flic.kr/p/8mQSuu



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