Addition of Grignard reagent in aldehyde and followed by the acidification give rise to the primary or secondary alcohol. when the formaldehyde is used than the primary alcohol is formed otherwise secondary alcohol is formed.
in this reaction we also use the aqueous acid for the acidification as a reagent. We add aqueous acid when ethanol is present. This is because ethanol is get converted in the presence of aqueous acid into the chloroethane.
