[Ch3micat]

One of the questions on my homework assignment is "What is the final product formed when CH3CH2OH is refluxed with acidified potassium dichromate (VI) ?
and the answers are
A. CH3CHO
B. CH2=CH2
C. CH3COOH
D. HCOOCH3

What is the answer, and why?

Thanks.

[PRIYA1022]

Its Acetic acid...of course!
Primary alcohols are oxidized to aldehydes and then to carboxylic acids with the same no. of carbon atoms as the parent alcohol .

[Borek]

Please read forum rules.

[Ch3micat]

Thank you for the help.

I have read the rules, and do not belive I am in violation, but it is your say whether I am violating the rules, and if I am I apologize.

2. Please don't list as your homework questions and then say you need help immediately. It is your own responsibility to start your homework early. If you do have a lot of questions, put them in one post but don't expect them to all be answered at once. Violators will have their multiple posts deleted and subject to banning.

While this is technically "homework" it is never collected, and I did not say I needed help immediately. I asked this so that I knew how to answer it if I got the question on a test.
  I will refrain from asking questions which are of this nature in the future.

[Sam (NG)]

Thank you for the help.

I have read the rules, and do not belive I am in violation, but it is your say whether I am violating the rules, and if I am I apologize.

2. Please don't list as your homework questions and then say you need help immediately. It is your own responsibility to start your homework early. If you do have a lot of questions, put them in one post but don't expect them to all be answered at once. Violators will have their multiple posts deleted and subject to banning.

While this is technically "homework" it is never collected, and I did not say I needed help immediately. I asked this so that I knew how to answer it if I got the question on a test.
  I will refrain from asking questions which are of this nature in the future.

I believe that Borek was referring to this:

4.) Please show that you've at least attempted the problem.  We don't mind helping you solve problems but we are ethically opposed to doing homework for you. Violators will have their topic deleted or locked.

[Ch3micat]

Oh... okay.   
 

Sorry then.

I did try, for the record, but I didn't say that I guess.  I drew the structural formula and tried to figure out what things I could change where, but when it came down to it, I was just taking shots in the dark by drawing things on each of the carbons with no apparent reason.  My original guess was B, because I thought maybe the OH would be stolen by the "acid" to form water, and maybe a double bond would form.    But that didn't sound right because I've never heard of that occuring before except for condensation and hydrolysis things, and if that were what would happen, they would have just said acid and not mentioned the salt (which I guess is an oxidizer)  I also realized that answer would be wrong because it would just not make sense to suddenly lose a hydrogen on the other side.   Suffice to say, I was unsure of what I was doing.  I kind of thought it might have been like using a permanganate salt to oxidize it and do something like I've seen in an example of, but I couldn't remember what exactly was going on.  (which PRIYA explained for me very well)

I'm operating off of about 10 example reactions I've seen written.  O-chem isn't in my text book, because my class hardly covers it, yet I'm supposed to know some basic O-chem for a test I will be taking in a month or two.

[Borek]

I believe that Borek was referring to this:

4.) Please show that you've at least attempted the problem.  We don't mind helping you solve problems but we are ethically opposed to doing homework for you. Violators will have their topic deleted or locked.

Exactly