Acetic acid /əˈsiːtɪk/, systematically named ethanoic acid /ˌɛθəˈnoʊɪk/, is a colourless liquid organic compound with the chemical formula ch3cooh (also written as ch3co2h or c2h4o2). when undiluted, it is sometimes called glacial acetic acid. vinegar is no less than 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component of vinegar apart from water. acetic acid has a distinctive sour taste and pungent smell. in addition to household vinegar, it is mainly produced as a precursor to polyvinyl acetate and cellulose acetate. it is classified as a weak acid since it only partially dissociates in solution, but concentrated acetic acid is corrosive and can attack the skin.acetic acidnamespreferred iupac nameacetic acidsystematic iupac nameethanoic acidother namesvinegar (when dilute); hydrogen acetate; methanecarboxylic acid[1][2]identifierscas number64-19-7 3d model (jsmol)interactive image3dmetb00009 reference506007chebichebi: 15366 chemblchembl539 chemspider171 drugbankdb03166 echa infocard100.000.528ec number200-580-7e numbere260 (preservatives)gmelin reference1380iuphar/bps1058keggd00010 meshacetic+acidpubchem cid176rtecs numberaf1225000uniiq40q9n063p un number2789inchiinchi=1s/c2h4o2/c1-2(3)4/h1h3,(h,3,4) key: qtbsbxvteameqo-uhfffaoysa-n smilescc(o)=o
