How would you distinguish experimentally between an alcohol and a carboxylic acid?

We can distinguish between an alcohol and a carboxylic acid on the basis of their reaction with carbonates and hydrogen carbonates. Acid reacts with carbonate and hydrogen carbonate to evolve \( CO_2 \) gas that turns lime water milky. On the other hand, alcohols do not react with carbonates and hydrogen carbonates so there won’t be any evolution of \( CO_2 \) gas .Thus, the reaction with carbonate or hydrogen carbonate can be used to distinguish between carboxylic acid and alcohol.