Explain the acidic nature and acidity of alcohols by describing their reactions with active metals.

(N/A) Reaction of alcohols with active metals: Like water,alcohols react with active metals such as $Li, Na, K, Al$ to form corresponding alkoxides with the evolution of hydrogen gas. Examples are as follows:
$2 ROH + 2 Na \longrightarrow 2 R-O-Na + H_2(g)$
$2 CH_3OH + 2 Na \longrightarrow 2 CH_3ONa + H_2(g)$
$2 CH_3CH_2OH + Mg \longrightarrow (CH_3CH_2O)_2Mg + H_2(g)$
$6 (CH_3)_3C-OH + 2 Al \longrightarrow 2 [(CH_3)_3C-O]_3Al + 3 H_2(g)$
These reactions involve the cleavage of the $O-H$ bond.
$(b)$ Acidic nature of alcohols: The above reactions show that alcohols are acidic in nature. In fact,alcohols are $Br\ddot{o}nsted$ acids and can donate a proton to a strong base $(B:)$.
$B: + H-\ddot{O}-R \longrightarrow B-H + :\ddot{O}-R^-$