Alcohol

In general "alcohols" are any of the class of compounds that consist of a hydroxyl functional group (-OH) and an alkanehydrocarbon group (C_xH_y). For example the following structure is for ethanol, or ethyl-alcohol.

  H H
  | |
H-C-C-O-H
  | |
  H H

In common usage "alcohol" refers simply to ethanol. Produced by fermentation of fruits or grains with yeast?, and usually taken in the form of a drink, it is one of the most widely used [recreational drug]?s in the world. Ingestion in sufficient quantity results in a state known as drunkenness.

Alcohols are in wide use in the industry and science fields as reagents, solvents, and fuels. State-of-the-art engineering has achieved to replace gasoline (and other hydrocarbons which produce toxic fumes) with forms of alcohol such as ethanol or methanol (which burn more cleanly). This practice is standard in Formula 1 racing. Other alcohols than the ethanol are hazardous for your health. Methanol for example makes you blind. Often in illegal, uncontrolled fermentation processes these hazardous alcohols are created.