Why Do I Need It?

Methanol is an alcohol, but not the kind you drink! It's more useful than that. Methanol is a solvent, making it the perfect antifreeze. Use a little of this is the wintertime to help keep your pipes from freezing! Or use some to clean your car's windsheild when those nasty birds come back for the spring and leave their business everywhere! Love to spend time outside? Methanol burns well in an unpressurized burner, making it ideal for makeshift alcohol stoves! Drive a big car, such as a monster truck or another vehicle with internal combustion engines? Methanol is your fuel of choice! In fact, most series require methanol to fuel the cars in their races! And even if you just wanna make some new chemicals, methanol is a handy reactant when making plastic, plywood, paints, explosives, and textiles.

About the Molecule

Methanol is an alcohol . It has 6 atoms, represented by the formula CH3OH. It is a polar tetrahedral molecule. Because of the 2 unshared electron pairs on the Oxygen molecule, one part of the molecule is more negative than the rest. When reacting with another molecule that is identical, there are 2 forces of attraction: London Dispersion and Hydrogen bonding between the Hydrogen and the Oxygen.

What is Methanol?

Methanol is the simplest form of alcohol with the formula CH3OH. It was first notably used in the embalming process made famous by the ancient Egyptians. Jean-Baptiste Dumas and Eugene Peligot founded its compound in 1834. It is most commonly used as solvents, an antifreeze in pipes, and in alcohol stoves. It also is used to fuel cars with internal combustion engines. Most commonly, it is used to create other chemicals. To make methanol, there are 3 different practiced methods.
1. CH₄ + H₂O → CO + 3 H_{2 (methane reacts with steam)}
2. 2 CH₄ + O₂ → 2 CO + 4 H_{2 (steam methane reforming)
3.} CO + H₂O → CO₂ + H₂, (exothermic as opposed to the above endothermic reaction)