Question -
Answer -
The acidic nature of phenol can be represented by thefollowing two reactions:
(i) Phenolreacts with sodium to give sodium phenoxide, liberating H2.
(ii) Phenolreacts with sodium hydroxide to give sodium phenoxide and water as by-products.
The acidity of phenol is more than that of ethanol. Thisis because after losing a proton, the phenoxide ion undergoes resonance andgets stabilized whereas ethoxide ion does not.
