The alcohol product contains two different types of hydroxyl groups. Why does the polymer-supported reaction with methanol convert only one of the hydroxyl groups to an ether group but not the other

The other may not be free.

Explanation:

In the polymer-supported reaction with methanol, the reaction will undergo at one hydroxyl group because others may not be free due to bonding with other molecules. The hydroxyl groups could be bonded with the polymer with the help of hydrogen bonding of molecules. The hydroxyl group has to be bonded to only the compatible molecules and free molecules.

the electronic configuration of an atom with eight electrons is 1s²2s²2p⁴. the orbital diagrams are shown in the figure.

as per the hunds rule:

1. electrons tend to avoid being in the same orbital as per as practicable.

2. electrons in different orbitals of the same energy will have their spin parallel.

this can be illustrated from the multiplicity of the orbitals of the atom. as there are four electrons in the p orbital and p orbital has 3 sub-shells. the electrons can be fed in different ways as shown in the figure but the correct orbital diagram will be as per the hunds rule.

the electrical  conductivity  of asolution  of an electrolyte is measured by determining the resistance of thesolution  between two flat or cylindrical electrodes separated by a fixed distance.