VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
ORGANIC
CHEMISTRY
LABORATORY
SCIENTIFIC REPORT
PREPARED BY:
Kathrina S. Villanueva
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine - 1
SUBMITTED TO:
Ms. Aira Marie Dimas
VOLATILITY: DISTILLATION AND
DETERMINATION OF BOILING POINT
Objectives:
1. Separate a mixture of substances using distillation
2. Determine the boiling point of a liquid
INTRODUCTION
Volatility is the relative ease with which a substance passes from the liquid to the gaseous (vapor)
state. To escape from the liquid into the gaseous stae an individual molecule requires energy - to break
away from other liquid molecules, and to maintain the vigorous movement characteristics of a gaseous
particle. The amount of a substance that is present as gas in the space above the surface of the liquid
contained in a closed vessel is measured by its vapor pressure, which increase with temperature.
Evaporation is slow volatilization by the scape of surface molecules from the liquid into the air.
Boiling is the fast volatilization of a liquid; the turbulence observed is due to the formation of vapor
even in the body of the liquid. Boiling occurs when the vapor pressure is equal to the atmospheric
pressure, and the temperature required for this quality is called the boiling point. The less volatile a
liquid is, the higher in its boiling point.
Distillation is the process of vaporizing a liquid and converting the vapor to the liquid state by cooling.
The sample mixture (generally a solution) is heated to sustain boiling, and the vapor allowed to pass
through a cooling tube where it condenses to form the distillate. Thus distillation serves to separate the
volatile from the non-volatile component of a mixture.
If the original liquid sample contains only one volatile component, the vapor produce will consist of
this component alone, and its temperature will be near the boiling point of the latter. (At a given
pressure, the boiling point of a pure liquid is a characteristic constant and serves as a clue to its
identity, just as the melting point does for a pure solid). Mixture containing two or more main
components that are volatile give a mixed vapor, the composition of which depends on the relative
volatility of these components and their respective concentrations in the liquid phase. As distillation
proceeds, the vapor composition changes towards increasing concentration of the less volatile
component(S) as indicated by the variation of the vapor temperature.
PROCEDURE
A. Comparison of Volatility by Rate of Evaporation
Arrange 5 small clean dry watchglass in a row on the bench top. Near each, place a piece of paper
as label to indicate the compound under examination:
a) acetone C3H6O c) water H2O
b) methanol CH3OH d) 1-butanol C4H9OH e) ethyl acetate C6H802
When ready, place the two drops of the compound to be tested in the center of the watch glass, and
immediately note time on the label. When the liquid has completely disappeared, note down the time
again.
B. Distillation of Water from Dissolved Non-volatile Solids; Boiling Point Determination
Place 30 mL ordinary tap water in a 50-mL distilling flask, taking care that no liquid enters the side
arm.
Add a piece of porcelain plate to prevent bumping, and assemble the rest of the distillation
apparatus.
The tip of the thermometer bulb should be in the center of the flask neck, about 5 mm below the side
arm.
Check all connections for tightness and turn the water on the condenser.
Heat the flask contents to boiling, then adjust the flame to the condensate falls from the condenser,
and at the rate of one drop in 5 sec.
Watch the thermometer, when the volume of the distillate is 3 mL, then at each succeeding 3-mL
interval until a total of 15 mL has been collected.
The boiling range of water is the temperature indicated at the first drop and at the last drop
collected, provided the distillation has proceeded at steady rate.
MATERIALS USED
DISCUSSION
Volatility is the tendency of a substance to vaporize. The term is primarily written to be applied to
liquids. It is directly related to a substance's vapor pressure. At a given temperature, a substance with
higher vapor pressure vaporizes more readily than a substance with a lower vapor pressure. Another
term used in the experiment was evaporation. Evaporation is slow volatilization, a type
of vaporization of a liquid that occurs from the surface of a liquid into a gaseous phase. In the
experiment, volatility of some organic compounds was observed. The first to evaporate was Acetone,
next was Ethyl acetate then Methanol, and last was Water.
Acetone evaporates quickly because it has a high vapor pressure. This high vapor pressure is caused
by the low intermolecular forces of attraction between its compositions. For alcohols, another factor
that affects its volatility is its molecular weight. Compounds having a low molecular weight
evaporate first. Methanol was faster to evaporate than Water. Water is extremely non-volatile this is
because of strong chemical bonds between the molecules. The most common of which
are hydrogen bonds that resist the tendencies of individual
molecules to enter the gaseous state.
The second part in the experiment was distillation; unfortunately the experiment was not done due to
some circumstances. Here is just the process of distillation and its meaning. Distillation is a method
used in separating mixtures based on differences in the conditions required to change the phase of
components of the mixture. A simple distillation apparatus consists essentially of three parts: a flask
equipped with a thermometer and with an outlet tube from which the vapor is emitted; a condenser
that consists of two tubes of different diameters placed one within the other and so arranged that the
smaller (in which the vapor is condensed) is held in a stream of coolant in the larger; and a vessel in
which the condensed vapor is collected.
To separate a mixture of liquids, the liquid can be heated to force components, which have different
boiling points into the gas phase. The substance with lowest boiling point evaporates first. The gas is
then condensed back into liquid form and collected into a receiving vessel and the product obtained is
known as the distillate. Those substances having a higher boiling point remain in the flask and
constitute the residue.
CONCLUSION
The volatility of some organic compounds was observed in the experiment and also the factors that
affect the volatility of a compound were studied. High vapor pressure results from a low boiling point
and low intermolecular forces which causes large number of molecules to evaporate quickly.
Molecular weight also was a factor, low molecular weight evaporates faster. Lastly was its hydrogen
bonding (intermolecular forces). The fact that water evaporates last, it demonstrates that a strong
hydrogen bonding between water molecules affects evaporation. To summarize it; vapor pressure,
boiling point, molecular weight and intermolecular forces (hydrogen bonding) are the causes or the
factors of the volatility of a compound. These factors causes the trend in which organic compound in
the experiment was identify to be the fastest or the slowest to evaporate.