Looking for the Right Solvent

I. Objectives:

II. Materials:
a. 50 mL water h. 2 pellets of sodium hydroxide
b. 20 mL kerosene (NaOH)
c. 1 mL ethanol i. Stirring rod
d. 1 mL coconut oil j. Ballpen covers (as spatulas)
e. 1 pc mothball or naphthalene k. Medicine dropper
f. ½ tsp sugar l. 13 test tubes or small
g. ½ tsp table salt transparent bottles

III. Procedure
a. Pulverize each of th solid samples
b. Put 3 mL of water into each of the 7 test tubes. Label the test tubes 1 to 7.
c. Add 5 drops each of kerosene, ethanol, and coconut oil to each of the test tubes
containing water.
i. Observe what happens. Note down your observations.

d. Using the ballpen cover as spatula, add 1 scoop each of mothball, table salt, sugar,
and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) into the assigned test tubes containing 3mL of
water.
i. Observe closely: Does anything happen even without stirring or shaking
the tubes? Which solids or liquids dissolve? Which ones do not?

e. Stir each mixture for a while and observe what happens. Be sure to wash the
stirring rod with distilled water after using in each test tube.
i. What happens after stirring?
 ii. Do all the solids or all the liquids dissolve? Write down in a table whether
the solute is soluble or insoluble in a given solvent.

f. Put 3 mL of kerosene into each of the 6 test tubes. Label the test tubes 1 to 6.
Assign a separate test tube for each sample.
g. Repeat Procedures C–E, this time adding the solid and liquid (except kerosene)
samples to separate test tubes of kerosene. Observe what happens to the samples
with and without stirring.
i. Which solids and liquids dissolve in kerosene? Which ones do not?

Drawing:

Solubilities of Selected Solutes in Water and Kerosene

Solute Water Kerosene Nature of the solute
(ionic, polar, nonpolar)
Kerosene (CnH2n+n)
Ethanol (C2H5OH)
Coconut Oil
Mothball or naphthalene (C10H8)
Table salt (NaCl)
Sugar (C12H22O11)
Sodium hydroxide (NAOH)
Conclusion: