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Alcohols - Isomers.

There are different isomers of the alcohols propanol, butanol and pentanol.
The two isomers of propanol are shown below.

Propanol (C₃H₇OH) is commonly represented by the molecule propan-1-ol
which has the structural formula

Another isomer of propanol called propan-2-ol
is commonly represented by the structural formula

where the single lines between the atoms represent single covalent bonds.

Note that each carbon atom has four bonds (valency 4),
each oxygen atom has two bonds (valency 2)
and each hydrogen atom has one bond (valency 1).
Valency is the combining power of an atom.

Propan-1-ol is called a primary alcohol because the  O–H group is joined
to a carbon atom which has only one other carbon atom attached.

Propan-2-ol is called a secondary alcohol because the  O–H group is joined
to a carbon atom which has two other carbon atoms attached.

A tertiary alcohol (see butanol) has the  O–H group joined
to a carbon atom which has three other carbon atoms attached.

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