DACANAY, JOHN NIEROM T.

CHEM 1C 7:30AM- 11:30AM

EXPERIMENT 3- DISTILLATION

QUESTIONS:
1. The entire mercury bulb thermometer must be below the level of the side-arm to obtain
an accurate reading of the distillation temperature. Why is this so?
 The bulb part of the thermometer is positioned near the side arm of the Y-adaptor
so that it monitors the temperature of the vapors. If it is too low, it will be too
close to the boiling liquid and will read higher than the true vapor temperature. If
it is positioned too high, it will be out of the path of the vapors and read lower
than the true temperature.

2. Why is cold water circulated through the condenser from the bottom rather from the top?
 If water enters from the bottom of the condenser, it will always be completely
filled with cold water which ensures efficient cooling. The condenser cools these
vapors condensing them back to liquid droplets that flow down
the condenser into the receiver flask.

3. In the process of distillation of a mixture of acetone and water, how does the original
composition of the first vapor produced compare with that of the original mixture?
 Distillation experimental results indicate that acetone has a boiling point of
56.0°C when distilled comparative to book values of 56.5°C and experimental
results indicate water has a boiling point of 98.2°C when distilled comparative to
book values of 100.0°C. Fractional distillation is similar to simple distillation but
differs in that a fractionating column is used to allow for successive
condensations and distillations which produce a better separation between
liquids that have a small difference in boiling point.

4. What is the use of the boiling chips?

 Boiling chips provide nucleation sites for bubbles because the surface of
glassware is quite smooth, there aren't that many imperfections where bubbles
can form. This leads to the formation of large bubbles that can cause spills or
“bumping”. Bumping is bad because it can cause spilling or even break
glassware, leaving a benchtop covered in probably hazardous compounds and
broken glass. Boiling chips are much rougher than glass, so they provide lots of
nucleation sites. That allows the formation of a lot of small bubbles that can't
cause bumping or spilling.
5. Draw the distillation set-up and label all parts