‹ Chemistry simulationsChemistry · AS Level 9701 · 16 Hydroxy compoundsFive simulations covering Topic 16: primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols in 3D, hydrogen bonding with the boiling points and solubilities it explains, oxidation with acidified dichromate under distillation or reflux, the five reactions of ethanol, and the tri-iodomethane test.
An alcohol has a hydroxyl group joined to a saturated carbon. Count the carbon atoms attached to that carbon and you have the class, and the class decides almost everything the alcohol will do. Rotate each one and read off what it can be oxidised to.
The hydroxyl group lets one alcohol molecule hydrogen bond to the next, and to water. That single difference lifts the boiling point far above the alkane of similar size and makes the short alcohols completely soluble. Grow the chain and watch both effects fade.
Warm an alcohol with potassium dichromate and dilute sulfuric acid and the orange dichromate turns green as it is reduced. What you collect depends on the class of alcohol and on whether you distil the product off as it forms or heat it under reflux. Set up the apparatus and run it.
One alcohol, five reagents. The hydroxyl group can lose its hydrogen to a reactive metal, be swapped for a halogen, be thrown out altogether as water to leave an alkene, or join an acid to make an ester. Pick a reagent and press React.
Warm a compound with iodine and sodium hydroxide and a pale yellow precipitate of tri-iodomethane appears, but only from a very particular fragment: a methyl group next to a carbon carrying either a hydroxyl and a hydrogen, or a double-bonded oxygen. Test each compound and see which ones give it.
Primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols in 3D with what each one can be oxidised to, hydrogen bonding drawn between alcohol molecules and with water alongside a boiling point graph against the alkanes and the collapse of solubility as the chain grows, oxidation with acidified dichromate under distillation or reflux with the orange to green colour change, the five reactions of ethanol built in 3D, and the tri-iodomethane test with the fragment it looks for picked out.
Five simulations covering Topic 16: primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols in 3D, hydrogen bonding with the boiling points and solubilities it explains, oxidation with acidified dichromate under distillation or reflux, the five reactions of ethanol, and the tri-iodomethane test.
Hydroxy compounds is a free, browser-based simulation for Cambridge International AS & A Level Chemistry 9701 (topic 16 Hydroxy compounds). The same ideas are examined in Cambridge IGCSE Chemistry 0620 (topic 11 Organic chemistry). The course is assessed in Paper 1 (Multiple Choice (AS)), Paper 2 (AS Structured), Paper 3 (Advanced Practical), Paper 4 (A Level Structured), Paper 5 (Planning, Analysis, Evaluation). Syllabus for examination in 2025-2027. There are 5 tabs, each a self-contained experiment with its own controls and live readings, and nothing to install: it runs on a laptop, tablet or classroom projector.
Full syllabus map: AS Level Chemistry 9701 topic 16.
All simulation labs · AS Level Chemistry 9701 · TheLucidSTEM home