How Do Ether and Alcohol Differ in Physical Properties?

[DespicableMe]

What are similiarities between ether and alcohol and how can we use at least 2 physical properties to differentiate between them?

For ex, alcohol has a higher boiling point, so what "procedure" would I follow to test the boiling points to find out which is which.

 

[cep]

First of all, when you say ether, I assume you mean diethyl ether; however, a general ether is any molecule with a bridging oxygen atom: R-O-R. Likewise, a general alcohol is any molecule with the functional group -OH, but 'alcohol' often just refers to ethanol.

As far as similarities go, what sort of answers are you looking for here? There are molecular and electronic similarities, or similarities in physical properties (for example, both ethanol and diethyl ether are colorless liquids at room temperature).

Boiling point is a good example of a difference in physical property. If you had two flasks, one containing diethyl ether and one containing ethanol, you would gently heat each flask with a thermometer (never use a Bunsen burner to heat diethyl ether-- use a steam bath instead, as it is highly flammable). Since boiling is a cooling process, once the liquid reaches its boiling point, the temperature will remain constant.

Other physical properties that could be tested are acidity, viscosity, miscibility with other liquids, etc.