Question

How do antiseptics differ from disinfectants? Name a substance that can be used as a disinfectant as well as an antiseptic.

Answer 1

Both the compounds are given in the question are used as safety products and are used to kill harmful microorganisms. One of them is used on the living tissue while the other is used on non-living things.

Complete answer:
In nature, there are many good things that are beneficial for us and there are many bad things that can harm us. And we try to stay away from these bad things that cause harm. So, some of these things are microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungus, etc. They can be present on living things as well as non-living things. So, antiseptics and disinfectants both are used to kill microorganisms but they differ in a certain manner.
When we get wounds, cuts, or burns it needs to be cared for properly otherwise micro-organism can worsen the situation so, on living objects we use antiseptics. But if we want to clean floors, windows, doors, etc which are non-living substances we use disinfectants.
An example of antiseptic is tincture of iodine while an example of disinfectant is 1% phenol solution.
We can adjust the concentration of phenol so that it can be used as both antiseptic and disinfectant. So, 0.2% of phenol solution is suited as antiseptic as well as disinfectant.

Note:
We cannot use disinfectant on our skin because it is very toxic and it can cause burns. Some examples of antiseptics that we use in our daily life are Dettol, savlon, etc.