Post Lab Experiment 1
Post Lab Experiment 1
Discussion
The purpose of this experiment is to purify benzoic acid via crystallization and to
recover as much benzoic acid as possible. Another purpose is to determine its melting point
in order to test its purity. There are a number of errors that one can commit in this
experiment.
Crystallization is the product of slow cooling a solution while precipitation is the
product of quick cooling a solution. In the experiment, the researcher made sure that the
solution was slowly cooled through warming the filter flask and funnel to be used thereby
producing crystals. (ATQ1) During the experiment, there was an instance wherein the
researcher had to reheat the solution twice due to one instance of frothing which might have
affected the percent recovery.
Charcoal helps the carbon particles absorb visible impurities before filtering. The
researcher may have only put a small amount of charcoal thereby causing the percent
recovery to be over 100% meaning it had too much impurities. (ATQ2)
The temperature of water when collecting crystals in suction filtration needs to be
cold in order for the crystals to remain clean and solid and for it to not dissolve. Cold water
helps in increasing the percent recovery of crystals. In this case specifically, the water might
have been too cold or the ice might have affected it thus making the percent recovery more
than 100%. (ATQ3)
The theoretical melting point of benzoic acid is 122.4℃. The melting point of the
crystals is at 122.6℃ which means that the substance is pure. Factors that could have affected
this was heating the substance too fast or the range that the researcher inputted it might have
been the amount of substance put inside the tube as well. (ATQ4)
If the solubility of benzoic acid at 0℃ is 0.17g/100ml, the maximum theoretical yield
of benzoic acid would be 95%
Sample Calculations
2.74 𝑔
= 1.98 𝑔 𝑥 100 = 𝟏𝟑𝟖%
References
Yanza ER. Survey of Organic Chemistry Laboratory Manual. Quezon City: Department of
Chemistry, Ateneo de Manila University; 2014.