What are the practical differences between methanol and denatured alcohol?
There are two important differences. The first is that denatured alcohol is a 50/50 mix of methanol (a poisonous alcohol) and ethanol (the kind of alcohol in booze), with a minor amount of methyl isobutyl ketone as well. “Denatured” is a term used to indicate that an additive is present that renders the alcohol undrinkable. In this case, methanol has been added to ethanol to render the ethanol undrinkable. The previous answer is wrong, as it confused the biochemical use of the word “denatured” with the correct usage. In biochemistry, “denatured” means that the structure has been altered from its active form. For our case, the term is used to indicate an additive that renders the food/drink inedible or undrinkable. The previous answer also confuses the Japanese word bonsai (an art form of culturing minature trees, pronounced bone-sigh) with banzai (a word associated with battle charges,and pronounced bahn-zigh).
Alcohol is the general name for any hydrocarbon molecule with an oxygen atom bonded onto it and then a hydrogen atom bonded onto that. A denatured alcohol is merely one that is heated to a point of twisting out of shape. Methanol is the smallest alcohol: H3COH. This is one particular alcohol. To use an analogy: Alcohol=tree, a denatured alcohol is a warped tree. Methanol is one type of tree, bonzai; the smallest tree.
