-Physical condition: C₂H₅OH is liquid; CH₃OCH₃ is a gas.
-Reactivity: C₂H₅ reacts with sodium (Na) metallic, releasing H₂ and forming the sodium ethoxide, Na (+) C₂H₅-O (-) (C₂H₅ONa).CH₃OCH₃ no reacts with sodium.-water solubility: C₂H₅OH dissolves in any proportionCH₃OCH₃ is poorly soluble in H₂O.
-polarity: C₂H₅OH is very polar, form hydrogen bonds.CH₃OCH₃ is little polar, doesn't have H available to form hydrogen bridge.
Write C₂H₆O may cause ambiguity because there are 2 different substances with this formula:-ethyl alcohol or ethanol = CH₃---CH₂---H
methyl ether = CH₃---O---CH₃
If you label a bottle only with C₂H₆O, will be very difficult to know if the compound is methyl ether or ethanol, which can be very dangerous in the laboratory. As only the ethanol C₂H₅OH is structured, it is convenient to use preferably this formula. For the methyl ether, it is more efficient to use the formula CH₃OCH₃.
hope this helps!
