Alkohol

Alkohol
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The origin of the name comes from Arabic and alcohol is "guhlu" (a powder to grated galena for coloring the eyelids and eyelashes) are derived. The Arabs called it "Kuhul" and it was with them the importance of the "most beautiful and best." The term was then used for liquids, which were considered as the essence or "spirit" of a substance. The Arabs is the invention of distillation attributed to alcohol (for medicinal purposes). This leads then "Al-Kuhul vini" from the best of the wine (alcohol). The famous naturalist and physician Theophrastus Bombastus Paracelsus (1493-1541) first used the term "spiritus vini" (spirits) for the result of distillation, and finally, the concepts of alcohol and alcohol identical meanings. First mentioned in writing was "Drink" in Germany in 1597. Alcohols are a group of organic chemical hydrocarbon compounds in which one or more hydroxy (-OH = oxygen and hydrogen) are directly bonded to the carbon. If the molecule contains only one hydroxyl group, one speaks of monohydric alcohols, it contains two, of divalent, three of trivalent or more of polyhydric alcohols. The polyhydric alcohols have a sweet taste. Different types of alcohol are:

* Single-valued: Ethanol (Ethyl alcohol), Linalool , Methanol (Methyl alcohol), nerol
* Bivalent: ethylene glycol (ethanediol, Glycol ) Diethylene glycol (diglycol)
* Trivalent: glycerol (glycerol, propanetriol)
* Higher value: for example, hexavalent Sorbitol

Lower alcohols are volatile liquids (ethanol, methanol, propanol) with a characteristic odor, medium-oily soapy alcohols (fusel oils), and higher alcohols are solid, waxy and almost odorless (eg, cetyl alcohol). Plays the major role in the wine drinking alcohol, namely the Ethanol . It is for the alcoholic fermentation of the sugar with the elimination of carbon dioxide formed. As a rule of thumb is that 10 grams of sugar per 1,000 grams of grape yield 0.66% alcohol by volume. Come in very small quantities of wine in the toxic Methanol and medium or higher alcohol types such as fusel oils before. The drinking of alcohol (ethanol) is a colorless, mouth burning, highly flammable liquid. Ethanol has a specific gravity of 0.79 and a boiling point of 78.3 ° Celsius. This compared to water much lower boiling point allows only the distillation of wine (evaporation of the alcohol before it reaches the boiling point of water) and thus the production of high-percentage Spirits . The alcohol content is one of the most important and vital issue for the Winemaking . Alcoholic drinks have a relatively high Nutritional value (Fats, carbohydrates). As for the other ingredients in wine, see Total extract .

The calculation of the alcohol level is detailed below Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above. A frequently asked question is, what reasonable amounts of alcohol to health and with regular use are probably not harmful. This problem area is under Health described. See the topic under , Alcoholism , Alcohol ban , Allergy , Diabetics wine , Hangover , Prohibition, and intoxication .