when you look at the ingredient lists of products like shower gel, conditioner etc. there are often several types of alcohol included…what’s the difference between these alcohols?

Question

A shower thought of mine haha

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The simple answer is, the difference between the alcohols is their chemical structure. In chemistry, there is a formal naming process of molecules (IUPAC), but often for chemicals that are more prevalent in use there is a different “common name”, especially if the IUPAC name is really long or that name looks scary to a consumer. Do you want to read lauryl alcohol or 1-dodecanol. In products for bathing, the various alcohols listed are really very similar, the main difference is the carbon chain attached. Think of the alcohol having a longer tail, shorter tail or fluffier tail. The reason why these compounds are put in these type of products is because the, -OH, alcohol part of the molecule is similar to water in the way it behaves, meaning water can rinse it out.