In the reaction of ethanol with acidified potassium dichromate, the carbon atom in ethanol gets oxidized. Let's analyze the oxidation states of carbon in both the reactant ethanol and the product acetic acid .Ethanol C2H5OH has the following structure:CH3-CH2-OHThe carbon atom in the CH3 group has an oxidation state of -3, while the carbon atom in the CH2 group has an oxidation state of -1.When ethanol reacts with acidified potassium dichromate, it gets oxidized to acetic acid CH3COOH . The structure of acetic acid is:CH3-COOHIn acetic acid, the carbon atom in the CH3 group still has an oxidation state of -3, but the carbon atom in the COOH group has an oxidation state of +3.So, the oxidation state of the carbon atom in the reaction of ethanol with acidified potassium dichromate changes from -1 to +3. This represents an increase in the oxidation state, which indicates that the carbon atom has been oxidized.