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Functions and Applications of Alcohols | CK-12 Foundation Skip
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textbook: From Vitamins to Baked Goods: Real Applications of
Organic Chemistry Go to the latest version.  Hand Sanitizer  One
common application for alcohol is in hand sanitizer. The
presence of alcohol, usually ethanol or isopropanol, in hand
sanitizers gives the sanitizers many of their useful properties.
Perhaps the most useful property of hand sanitizers is the
convenience of not having to dry off the hands after cleaning.
This is because alcohol can evaporate quickly even though it
exists as a liquid at room temperature. How quickly a substance
evaporates is related to how strongly the molecules of the
substance are attracted to each other and how much pressure is
acting on the substance. If the molecules are strongly attracted
to each other, the substance is more likely to be a solid or
liquid because the molecules will b