Question & Answer: H-NMR Question. How does one determine if a proton is neighboring? From basic knowledge…..

H-NMR Question. How does one determine if a proton is neighboring? From basic knowledge of e- negativity I can guess what H belongs to which peak. However does neighboring(determining how many H’s to count for the splitting) be determined — I believe the C that has H’s attached is the crux.

Example: I posted the H-NMR of ethanol. I understand from the H-NMR that the O-H hydrogen is a singlet but since it’s only 2 bonds away from the CH2 I don’t understand why the CH2 does not effect it and create more splitting (thus creating a triplet like it did for CH3). Does the Carbon need to be adjacent to the H’s C in question? I apologize for my lack of scientific clarity in writing this post.