Distillation of vodka
Distillation of vodka
Athena Bianca Mattus*, Rency Mae Silvestre,
Maria Robelaine Tenefrancia, Shaira Mae Yu
Department of Chemistry, College of Science
*Corresponding author; e-mail: tinabianca_09@yahoo.com
Abstract
Through simple distillation, the percent ethanol and percent loss of 15 mL of vodka was computed. The calculations were supported by a flammability test. With the distillation process reaching 100oC, 6.0 mL of distillate was collected. The determination of ethanol from the distillate was conducted through the flammability test, which resulted to 4.5 mL. After the needed computations, it was measured that the percent ethanol was 30% and the percent loss was 26%.
Keywords: simple distillation, percent ethanol, percent loss, flammability test, alcoholic beverages
Introduction
People are familiar with alcohols. It’s been a part of people’s lives regardless of their culture and lifestyle. Almost everyone use alcohol for different purposes. Many people, especially in the field of medicine, use alcohol for sanitation and even common individuals use it for hygiene. For some occasions, alcohol is inevitable. But too much consumption of alcohol may lead to intoxication. As a consequence, the use of alcohol is being regulated in some countries and sometimes, even banned or prohibited. Furthermore, laws are implemented against drunk-driving and alcoholic beverages can only be sold to minors.
Alcohol in these beverages is produced with the process called fermentation. In this process, chemical breakdown of a substance are made possible by microorganisms. For example, in making wine, the extract from a fruit is mixed with yeast. The sugar from the fruit extract is mixed with water and yeast. The mixture is left to ferment for a time. For several days, the yeast reacts with the sugar and converts it into alcohol. This comprises a few percentage of the beverage’s volume. Furthermore, we can increase the concentration of the alcohol through the process
Athena Bianca Mattus*, Rency Mae Silvestre,
Maria Robelaine Tenefrancia, Shaira Mae Yu
Department of Chemistry, College of Science
*Corresponding author; e-mail: tinabianca_09@yahoo.com
Abstract
Through simple distillation, the percent ethanol and percent loss of 15 mL of vodka was computed. The calculations were supported by a flammability test. With the distillation process reaching 100oC, 6.0 mL of distillate was collected. The determination of ethanol from the distillate was conducted through the flammability test, which resulted to 4.5 mL. After the needed computations, it was measured that the percent ethanol was 30% and the percent loss was 26%.
Keywords: simple distillation, percent ethanol, percent loss, flammability test, alcoholic beverages
Introduction
People are familiar with alcohols. It’s been a part of people’s lives regardless of their culture and lifestyle. Almost everyone use alcohol for different purposes. Many people, especially in the field of medicine, use alcohol for sanitation and even common individuals use it for hygiene. For some occasions, alcohol is inevitable. But too much consumption of alcohol may lead to intoxication. As a consequence, the use of alcohol is being regulated in some countries and sometimes, even banned or prohibited. Furthermore, laws are implemented against drunk-driving and alcoholic beverages can only be sold to minors.
Alcohol in these beverages is produced with the process called fermentation. In this process, chemical breakdown of a substance are made possible by microorganisms. For example, in making wine, the extract from a fruit is mixed with yeast. The sugar from the fruit extract is mixed with water and yeast. The mixture is left to ferment for a time. For several days, the yeast reacts with the sugar and converts it into alcohol. This comprises a few percentage of the beverage’s volume. Furthermore, we can increase the concentration of the alcohol through the process
References: Burns, R. A. Fundamentals of Chemistry; Pearson Education, Inc.: New Jersey, 2003; p. 387-388. Davis, R. E.; Peck, M. L.; Stanley, G. G.; Whitten, K. W. Chemistry; Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning: California, 2010; p. 463. Garcia, C.; Laboratory Experiments in Organic Chemistry; University of Santo Tomas: Manila, 2005; p. 4-8. Hengstebeck, R. J.; Distillation: Principles and Design Procedures; Reinhold Publishing Corporation: New York, p. 1 http://www.chemhelper.com/distillation.html (retrieved on Dec 09, 2013) http://www.pharmainfo.net/reviews/fractional-distillation-binary-solvent-mixture (retrieved on Dec 09, 2013)