VAPOUR PRESSURE LAB BY DANIELLE POSEN

PURPOSE

To determine whether the chemical nature of a liquid affects its vapor pressure at different temperatures
MATERIALS
Vernier Gas Pressure Sensor Probeware Interface three 125 mL flasks three 600 mL beakers thermometer clamped to ringstand ice water bath hot water bath on hot plate room temperature water bath distilled water sample butanol sample saturated sodium nitrate sample

SAFETY

Wear goggles and a lab coat at all times during this procedure. Use caution when working with the hot plate and hot water bath. Hot glass looks like cold glass. Make sure that the hot water bath does not boil. Use caution when submerging the flasks into the water baths. Make sure that equipment is supported from tipping over. Do not dispose of the butanol in the sinks. This chemical should be collected by your teacher at the end of the lab.

PROCEDURE

1. Setup the gas pressure sensor with the lab interface. Ensure that the sensor is working properly, and change the units to atmospheres. Connect the sensor the the two-hole stopper, and place the stopper in the 125 mL flask. 2. Draw 2-3 mL of distilled water into the syringe from the gas pressure sensor. Secure the syringe to the second opening of the stopper on the flask. Ensure that a tight seal is formed on the flask. 3. Start taking data of the pressure inside the flask. Add the distilled water from the syringe into the flask, and swirl the flask gently. Monitor any changes in pressure.

4. Once the vapor pressure achieves equilibrium, add the flask to the hot water bath. Monitor any changes in pressure. 5. Once the vapor pressure again achieves equilibrium, add the flask to the room temperature bath. Monitor any changes in pressure. 6. Once the vapor pressure achieves equilibrium, add the flask to the ice water bath. Monitor any changes in vapor pressure. 7. Once the vapor pressure achieves equilibrium, stop collecting data. Remove the flask from the ice water bath, and pour out the distilled water sample. 8. Repeat steps 2-7 using saturated sodium nitrate instead of distilled water. 9. Repeat steps 2-7 using butanol instead of distilled water.
BACKGROUND

A liquid in a closed system will form an equilibrium with its own vapour. Slow moving vapour particles can hit the surface of the liquid and become join the liquid particles, this process is known as condensation. While fast moving particles can escape the other liquid particles and become a vapour known as evaporation. The number of particles turning into vapour and liquid will become equal and a dynamic equilibrium between different phases will take place. Vapour pressure is affected by temperature. Increasing temperature will increase the energy therefore particles are more likely to produce the products of the endothermic reaction. This relates to vapour pressure as the rise of temperature will increase the rate of the change in phases therefore raising the vapour pressure. Lastly, weaker intermolecular forces allows particles to change phases more easily as intermolecular forces must break for a particle to leave that phase. Therefore weaker intermolecular forces will cause an increase of vapour pressure. Forces that do not affect vapour pressure include surface area and volume. If surface area is changed it will not affect vapour pressure as it will not affect the rate of the phase changes. Secondly, the volume of the liquid will not affect vapour pressure because the phase change occurs on the surface of the liquid.
QUANTITATIVE DATA

Table 1: vapour pressure (atmospheres) of H2O, saturated NaNO3 and propanol at 1.0C, 20.8C and 70.0C. Solution/ Temperature 1. 0C 20. 8C 70. 0C 0.8025 (Atm) 0.8333 (Atm) 0.8600 (Atm) H2O Saturated NaNO3 solution 0.7992 (Atm) 0.8325 (Atm) 0.8390 (Atm) propanol 0.8201 (Atm) 0.8508 (Atm) 0.9257 (Atm)

QUALITATIVE DATA

Hot Water Bath: Mist formed around the beaker and drops began to form around the beaker afterwards. The water in the tube also had a beat going up and down. Additionally, small droplets would join together to form larger ones. Droplets formed around the beaker that was exposed to the air. Room Temperature Bath: There was mist forming at the top where the stopper was positioned. The pressure was also changing constantly therefore accurate readings could not be taken. The results from the lab did not come out as expected, there are many reasons for this there may have been a leak where vapour could have left the closed system, or inaccuracies in the lab equipment.
CONCLUSION

The temperature affected the vapour pressure as it increased the energy and particles had sufficient amount of energy to change phases. This can be seen in the experiment in which the vapour pressure increased with a higher temperature for all three of the solutions, H2O, saturated NaNO3 and propanol. When the temperatures were low at 1.0C the vapour pressure was at its lowest for all three solutions therefore indicating the correlation between temperature and vapour pressure being identical. An increase in temperature will increase vapour pressure while a decrease in temperature will decrease vapour pressure.
EVALUATION

The results for this lab were obtained through online sources. The data collected during the lab prepared were wrong some of the reasons for this may have been the vapour escaping the confines of the closed system therefore the vapour pressure could not be obtained. Gaining information from online sources is questionable as the results may have been manipulated or the method may have been different. Therefore, the reliability of the data is extremely low