Question

how does ethanol react with sodium metal

Answer 1

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$\textbf{ How does ethanol react with sodium metal? }$

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If you spill some sodium on the bench, or have a small amount left over from a reaction, you can't just chuck it in the sink. It tends to react explosively with the water - and comes flying back out at you again!  It reacts much more gently with ethanol. Ethanol is therefore used to dissolve small quantities of waste sodium. The solution formed can be washed away without problems (provided you remember that sodium ethoxide is strongly alkaline.

To test for the -OH group in alcohols

Because of the dangers involved in handling sodium, this is not the best test for an alcohol at this level. Because sodium reacts violently with acids to produce a salt and hydrogen, you would first have to be sure that the liquid you were testing was neutral.  You would also have to be confident that there was no trace of water present because sodium reacts with the -OH group in water even better than with the one in an alcohol.   With those provisos, if you add a tiny piece of sodium to a neutral liquid free of water and get bubbles of hydrogen produced, then the liquid is an alcohol.

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Answer 2

When ethanol is treated with sodium metal,sodium ethoxide is obtained with the liberation of hydrogen gas.

Sodium is alkali metal,its standard reduction potential is low. Hence it can displace hydrogen from alcohol.

2CH₃- CH₂-OH +2Na——>2 CH₃- CH₂- ONa + H₂