How does the use of fluted filter paper hasten filtration?

why is it advisable to place

a small piece of wire between the funnel and the mouth of the flask during hot
filtration?
ANSWER: fluted filter paper is used to speed it up because it INCREASES SURFACE
AREA so it goes faster.
A small wire between the funnel and mouth of flask is just to help you pour the solution
down into the flask, so there'd be less "splattering" (or "dripping on the outside") and less
chance of getting into "accidents"

Source(s): lots of lab experience

Fluted filters: Fluted filters are also most useful when filtering a relatively large
amount of liquid. They are often used to filter a hot solution saturated with a solute
during a crystallization procedure. The major advantage of a fluted filter is that it
increases the speed of filtration for two reasons: first, it increases the surface area of the
filter paper through which the solvent seeps; second, it allows air to enter the flask along
its sides to permit rapid pressure equalization.
what are some techniques that can help prevent premature recrystallization and why are
these methods effective?
ANSWER: It is usually important to keep the solution warm while it is being filtered.
This is especially true if activated charcoal is used in the purification.
Once the clear liquid is separated, slowly change the composition or temperature to start
the crystallization process.
The crystallization process is determined by both the solubility of the solute in the solvent
and the temperature. That is what makes these methods effective.

What are the limitations of sublimation as

a purification method?
It is not as selective as crystalization, it typically requires a vacuum and usually requires
that the compound you are trying to separate is volatile, while everything else in the
mixture is not volatile.

If you decide to filter the hot solution, you must keep it hot throughout the gravity
filtration to prevent premature recrystallization (a tragic event). This requires juggling
everything on the hot plate to keep all the glassware and the funnel hot. It helps to turn
up the heat and to use fluted filter paper to speed up the filtration. See the diagram
labelled hot gravity filtration

Recrystallization
Recrystallization is the process of purification that involves dissolution of a solid in a hot
solvent, filtration of the heated solution or mixture, crystal formation, and the isolation of
the crystalline compound. In order to perform a recrystallization, the solubility of a
compound in a hot solvent must be taken advantage of. A saturated solution at a higher
temperature normally contains more solute than the same solute/solvent pair at a lower
temperature; as a result, the solute precipitates when a warm saturation solution cools. In
other words, a solution at a higher temperature will have more dissolved solids and as it
cools, the solute will return back to its solid phase, forming a precipitate. Impurities in the
solid being recrystzallized are usually significantly lower in concentration than the
concentration of the substance being purified so as the mixture cools, the impurities
remain in solution while the highly concentrated product crystallizes.
Crystal formation of a solute from a solution is a selective process because only solids
moving at the right speed and are under the appropriate conditions of concentration and
solvent form almost perfect crystalline materials as only molecules of with the right
shape fit into the crystal lattice. Recrystallization purifies a compound because
dissolution of the impure solid in a suitable hot solvent destroys the crystal lattice of the

impure compound and the recrystallization from the cold solvent selectively produces a
new, more pure crystal lattice. Slow cooling of the saturated solution promotes formation
of pure crystals because the molecules of the impurities that dont fit too well have time
to return to the solution. Crystals that form slowly are larger and often purer than ones
that form quickly because rapid crystal formation traps impurities within the lattice as
they are simply surrounded by the crystallizing solute. The most important aspect of
recrystallization is the choice of solvent because the solute should have maximum
solubility in the hot solvent and minimum solubility in the cold solvent. The relationship
of solute and solvent can be best described as like dissolves like. This entails that
nonionic compounds generally dissolve in water only when they can associate with the
water molecules through hydrogen bonding. Hydrocarbons and alkyl halides are virtually
insoluble in water whereas carboxylic acids and alcohols are often recrystallize from
water solutions. In a miniscale recrystallization experiment several steps are followed to
complete the purification process.
1. The solid to be recrystallized must first be weighed and then dissolved in an
appropriate hot solvent.
2. The solid impurities must be filtered using a gravity filtration process.
3. The hot recrystallization mixture is then set aside to cool to room temperature.
4. After cooling to room temperature, the solution is then cooled even further by
placing it in an ice-water bath for 10-15 minutes to allow further recrystallization.
5. To collect the crystals and to complete the recrystallization, the crystals must be
collected by vacuum filtration.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Recrystallization_technique.jpg

[edit] Sublimation
Sublimation is the process in which a substance changes directly from a solid to the gas
phase without forming an intermediate liquid phase. One example of this is dry ice,
which is converted from the solid form of carbon dioxide directly into carbon dioxide
gas. In the laboratory, sublimation can be used to purify an organic compound only after
meeting four requirements.
1.
2.
3.
4.

The compound must vaporize without melting

It must be stable enough to vaporize without decomposing
The vapors of the compound must be able to condense back to the solid
Impurities within the compound do not also sublime.

The apparatus for sublimation consists of an outer vessel and an inner vessel. The outer
vessel holds the sample to be purified connected to a vacuum and the inner container
known as a cold finger provides a cold surface on which the vaporized compound can
recondense as a solid. To perform sublimation, the sample to be sublimed must be placed
into a filter flask. Next an inner tube is placed in the flask and the vacuum is turned on.
Next, the sublimation tube is heated gently using a sand bath as ice is filled in the inner
tube. During sublimation, material will disappear from the bottom of the outer vessel and

then reappear on the cool, outside surface of the inner test tube. This is the result of the
compound vaporizing as it reaches its sublimation temperature and then recondensing on
the cold finger as a result of cooling. After completion, the inner test tube can be removed
and the pure solid can be scraped off and analyzed.