Myristic acid was produced in a 34.5% yield (0.02g) from the once recrystallized trimyristin. To obtain the theoretical yield for myristic acid, one had to calculate the number of moles present in the hydrolysis of trimyristin and multiply that number by three. This is because one mole of trimyristin is balanced when three moles of myristic acid are present. As a result, the theoretical yield of myristic acid was 0.058 g while the actual yield for the experiment was 0.02 g, which therefore led to a percent yield of 34.5%. To improve the percent yield, the filter paper form the filtration should be allowed to dry overnight to obtain any remaining crystals that may have been stuck on the paper.
For myristic acid, the melting point recorded was 51-52℃, whereas the theoretical melting point is 54.4℃. This demonstrates that the experimental end product was relatively pure. To improve the purity, the trimyristin from the second recrystallization should have been used to measure the melting point because it was more pure than the product from the first recrystallization and thus making the myristic acid more pure.
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