Doing fractional distillation is a more viable technique than straighforward distillation since less material is lost during the procedure. The distilled compounds would be more purified. The copper wire in the fractioning column acts to copy multiple distillations in one round of fractional distillation.
By doing fractional distillation of unknown 20, it was seen that unknown 20 had a higher boiling compound at about 79 degrees celcius and a lower boiling compound at about 56 degrees celcius. There is a 1:1 ratio of higher and lower boiling points. It can be determined that the lower boiling point compound is acetone because acetone's boiling point is 56 degrees celcius. It can be determined that the higher boiling point compound is 2-methyl-2-propanol. The therorectical boiling point for 2-methyl-2-propanol is 82 degrees celcius, which is about 3 degrees different from the experimental boiling point. The difference could be due to human error by heating the compound too quickly. The experimental results for this procedure are accurate because fractional distillation provides pure compounds, which are less likely to be lost during the process.
When the vials were switched at the point of plateau, the original had barely any drops, however the original starting quantity was 4 mL. The second vial, which was removed at about 78 degrees celcius, was a mixture of acetone and 2-methyl-2-propanol. Vial 2 was replaced with Vial 3 containing 2-methyl-2-propanol. Vial 2 contained about 2 mL, Vial 3 had a little less than 2 mL, and Vial 1 had a few drops. Therefore, all three vials account for the original 4 mL of unknown 20 and emphasize the 1:1 ratio.
Recent comments