Sodium metal can be used to dry diethyl ether and not ethyl alcoho. Why?

Explanation

Sodium metal reacts with ethyl alcohol to from sodium ethoxide alongwith hydrogen gas.
`C_(2)H_(5)underset("Ethyl alcohol")(-O-H)+NararrC_(2)underset("Sod.ethoxide")(H_(5)-overset(-)ONa^(+))+1//2H_(2)`
Thus, it cannot dry the alcoho. But as it does not react with the ether, it can be used to remove moisture from it since the metal has a strong affinity for water.