Question

explain why phenol is more acidic than ethyl alcohol.​

Answer 1

Answer:

Phenols are much more acidic than alcohols because the negative charge in the phenoxide ion is not localized on the oxygen atom as it is in an alkoxide ion but is delocalized as it is shared by a number of carbon atoms in benzene ring.

Answer 2

The acidic substance has the tendency to produce H+ ion when dissolved in water. Both phenol and ethanol weak acid. However, the acidity of phenol is more than that of ethanol. This is because after losing a proton, the phenoxide ion undergoes resonance & gets stabilized whereas ethoxide ion does not.