Anshul

Kirti
Anne K. Alexander
Properties of matter and

Separation
4 November 2013

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Introduction

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The physical separation of the components of a mixture is the goal of this
experiment. Each component in a mixture retains its individual physical
properties. That is, they do not react with each other (a chemical change) in the
mixture or during the separation process. Product mixtures are a common result
in chemical reactions. Indeed, it is rare that a reaction results in a single, pure
product directly. The real challenge often is the separation of the desired product
from the mixture and its subsequent puriJication.

Physical properties of the possible compounds are :

1. Salicylic Acid:
Properties:
1. Have a structure of crystalline solid.
2. Possesses white color.
3. Odorless
4. Also soluble in water.
2. Cholesterol:
Properties:
1. Have a structure of crystalline powder.
2. Have a white color.
3. Odourless.
4. Insoluble in water.

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3. Vanillin:
Properties:
1. Crystalline solid.
2. White or slightly yellow in color.
3. Sweet pleasing odour and taste (vanilla)
4. Insoluble in water.
4. Sodium Chloride:
Properties:
1. Crystalline solid
2. White in color
3. Odourless
4. Soluble in water

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5. Sucrose:
Properties:
1. Crystalline solid
2. White in color
3. Caramel to odourless
4. Sweet in taste
5. Soluble in cold water

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A substance is soluble in water when the intermolecular force between the
solute-solvent is greater than the intermolecular force between solute-
solute.
The forces between the molecules are determined by the induced dipole-
dipole attraction. So if the intermolecular force is greater, hence, the
melting point will be greater.

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Experimental Design :

The Buchner Jlask was attached to the vacuum pump and the wet Jilter
paper was attached to the holes of Buchner funnel. When the vacuum is
turned on, the insoluble compound remains on the Jilter paper and the
soluble

compound drops down into the Jlask due to the vacuum created by the
pump. The product generated is then compared with its physical
properties and the unknown is determined.

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Procedure

Materials used: The unknown compound , Filter paper, Buchner Jlask, vacuum
pump, watch glass, pipette, graduated cylinder, weighing dish, multimeter,
melting device, dropper.

1. Obtain a sample of the mixture, record the unknown code number on the
data sheet.
2. Obtain a 150 ml beaker and carefully weigh it to the nearest 0.01 g on the
top loading scale and record its mass on the data sheet.
3. Place about 0.5 g of the mixture into the empty beaker and carefully weigh
it to the nearest 0.01 g with the top loading scale and record its mass on
the data sheet.
4. Determine the mass of the mixture by subtracting the mass of the empty
beaker from the mass of the beaker containing the mixture and record the
calculated mass onto the data sheet.
5. Take maximum of 12ml of distilled water into a graduated cylinder. And
start mixing the mixture with water until it gets totally soluble.
6. The Jilter paper is then wet with the water and attached properly to the
Buchner Flask. The Jlask is then attached to the vacuum pump.
7. The mixture is then poured into the Jlask. The vacuum is then turned on.
8. After a while, the water soluble compound is dropped down into the Jlask
and the water-insoluble compound is left over on the Jilter paper.
9. The Jilter is left over to dry and the insoluble compound to crystallise.
Meanwhile, the conductivity of the soluble substance is checked via
multimeter. If the compound conducts electricity, it is salt , otherwise it is
sucrose.
10. After the crystallisation of the water-insoluble substance, it is heated and
the melting point is recorded. The melting point is then compared with the
melting point of known compounds. Also the odour of the compound like
vanillin can be used to determine the unknown, but that wont be accurate.

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Result
Unknown Number = 28
Mass of unknown taken = 0.5 g
Substance

Mass

Filter paper 1
(Crystallise)

45.54 g

Filter paper 2
(Crystallise)

48.07 g

Filter paper 1

0.21 g

Filter paper 2

0.21 g

Beaker 1

82.74 g

Beaker 2

58.45 g

Beaker 1
With compound B

83.07 g

Beaker 2
With compound B

58.78 g

Watch glass

46.45 g

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Average mass of Jilter paper (crystallised) = 46.80 g

Average mass of Jilter paper = 0.21

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Mass of compound A = 46.80 - 0.21 - 46.45 = 0.14 g
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Mass of Compound B from Jirst trial = 83.07 - 82.74 = 0.33 g
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Mass of Compound B from second trial = 58.78 - 58.45 = 0.33 g
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Average mass of compound B = 0.33 g

Total mass of mixture comes to be 0.47 g which is near to the original mass
taken , i.e 0.50 g

Percentage of compound A in the mixture = 29.78%

Percentage of compound B in the mixture = 70.21%

The melting point of compound A was 83.3o C which is very close to the melting
point of vanillin that is 83o C . And also the odour of the compound A was sweet.
So from the above two formulations , the Compound A was Vanillin.

The compound B being soluble in water and not conducting electricity at the
same time reJlects that Compound B was Sucrose.

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According to the experiment conducted, the number of trials for each part was 2
and the data recorded were precise up to two decimal points. From the result, it
can be said that the measurements were precise and accurate. The desired values
were achieved. Compound B being sucrose and being 70.21% of whole mixture,
does make sense as it can be expected to be in greater quantity than vanillin.

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Discussion

During the lab session, an unknown mixture of two different compound was give
and both of compounds had to be determined. The technique of vacuum Jiltration
was used to separate the mixture into two different compound. For that, the
mixture was Jirst mixed with right amount of distilled water and then passed
through the Jlask, which separated the mixture. The insoluble compound was left
on the Jilter paper and the soluble compound was Jiltered out.

The concept of solubility was the Jirst step for the lab. It is known that if a
compound soluble with water is passed through the Jilter paper, there will be no
effect. But its vice versa for insoluble compound. By using this concept in the
favour, the unknown mixture was Jirst mixed with water in order to mix the
soluble part and then pass it through Jilter paper. In the end, the two compounds
were separated, one being soluble and the other being insoluble.

It is known that the salt conduct electricity and the compound sucrose is a non
electrolyte. This phenomenon of the two compounds were used to determine the
compound B in the experiment.
The reason salt conduct electricity is because, when they are dissolved in water
they for ions which makes the water to conduct electricity.

The melting point of the compound A helped to determine the unknown. By

comparing it with different known melting points. Melting point is described as
the amount of energy required to break down the intermolecular force.

Compound A = Vanillin
Compound B = Sucrose

Mass of Compound A = 29.78%

Mass of Compound B = 70.21%

The weakness in the procedure was, use distilled water every time because when
the tap water was used the solution may conduct electricity due to the impurities
present in the tap water. Also taking the right amount of water to mix the
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unknown mixture, if large amount of water is used, the chances of compound B

not conducting electricity is increased.

The error in the experiment was basically due to the misplacement compounds.
Instead of getting the total mass of 0.50g it was 0.47g. From assumptions the few
of the mixture fell down during the experiment. The result could have been
improved by doing different number of trials and giving more time to crystallise.

The procedure described above was exactly same it was performed, each step has
been done with proper care and the readings were recorded at every step.

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