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Alcohol Definition Essay

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To start off with this matter, one may ask: "What is alcohol? Isn't it just used for medications?" Well, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word alcohol may mean up to several meanings. For example, in the medical world, the term alcohol means: "a mixture of ethanol and water that is usually 95% ethanol, which is a colorless volatile flammable liquid C2H5OH that is the intoxicating agent in liquors and is also used as a solvent." For this particular essay, however, the term alcohol means: "ethanol especially when considered as the intoxicating agent in fermented and distilled liquors, any of a class of organic compounds that are analogous to ethanol and that are hydroxyl derivatives of hydrocarbons." It is classed as a depressant, meaning that it slows down vital functions—resulting in slurred speech, unsteady movement, disturbed perceptions and an inability to react quickly. As for how it affects the mind, it is best understood as a drug that reduces …show more content…
The effects for the brain with alcohol involved could cause loss of coordination, poor judgment, slowed reflexes, distorted visions, memory lapses, and even blackouts." According to drugfreeworld.org, it also states: "Even with ethanol, which is a type of enhancer or alternative automotive fuel combined with grain, corn, or catalytic hydration of ethane gas, if infected in the human body, it can interfere with the brain functions and can cause terrible poisoning. Based on the amount of alcohol consumed determines the type of effect...if a person consumes more than the body can handle, they then experience alcohol’s depressant effect. They start to feel “stupid” or lose coordination and control. Alcohol overdose causes even more severe depressant effects (inability to feel pain, toxicity where the body vomits the poison, and finally unconsciousness or, worse, coma or death from severe toxic overdose). These reactions depend on how much is consumed and how

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