Physical Properties of Organic Molecules Experiment
Physical Properties of Organic Molecules
Abstract
Identifying the physical properties of compounds can be useful in several ways. It helps us to determine the structure of certain compounds, the purity of substances and if a substance is not pure we can figure out how to separate contaminating substances from a compound. In this experiment, I learned how to determine a solid’s melting point and why some melting point ranges may be broader than others. From my data, I also determined that water is not a good solvent for a lot of solids even when it is boiled. Also, when looking at boiling point, my data showed that ethanol has a low boiling point so it made me investigate further to see why that happened.
Introduction
All substances have properties that we can use to identify them. For example, we can identify a person by their voice, height, face, finger prints. The more of these properties we can identify the more we know the person. In a similar way, matter has properties and there are many of them. The two basic properties we associate with matter are physical and chemical properties. Physical properties are those properties that do not change the chemical nature of matter. Chemical properties are those properties that do change the chemical nature of matter. All physical and chemical properties observed for a compound are directly related to the compound’s molecular structure. The most common physical properties are color, odor, crystalline form (if it’s a solid) ,refractive index (if it’s a liquid), density, solubility in various solvents, melting point (for solids), and boiling point (for liquids).
In this experiment, we will use melting point, boiling point, and solubility to identify certain solids and liquids. First, we will melt benzoic acid, benzoin, and an unknown substance. I believe the benzoin will have a small range melting point because it is a pure substance.
Abstract
Identifying the physical properties of compounds can be useful in several ways. It helps us to determine the structure of certain compounds, the purity of substances and if a substance is not pure we can figure out how to separate contaminating substances from a compound. In this experiment, I learned how to determine a solid’s melting point and why some melting point ranges may be broader than others. From my data, I also determined that water is not a good solvent for a lot of solids even when it is boiled. Also, when looking at boiling point, my data showed that ethanol has a low boiling point so it made me investigate further to see why that happened.
Introduction
All substances have properties that we can use to identify them. For example, we can identify a person by their voice, height, face, finger prints. The more of these properties we can identify the more we know the person. In a similar way, matter has properties and there are many of them. The two basic properties we associate with matter are physical and chemical properties. Physical properties are those properties that do not change the chemical nature of matter. Chemical properties are those properties that do change the chemical nature of matter. All physical and chemical properties observed for a compound are directly related to the compound’s molecular structure. The most common physical properties are color, odor, crystalline form (if it’s a solid) ,refractive index (if it’s a liquid), density, solubility in various solvents, melting point (for solids), and boiling point (for liquids).
In this experiment, we will use melting point, boiling point, and solubility to identify certain solids and liquids. First, we will melt benzoic acid, benzoin, and an unknown substance. I believe the benzoin will have a small range melting point because it is a pure substance.
Bibliography: 1. Memari, Behnoush Organic Chemistry 1 & 2 lab manual 2. http://www.mheducation.ca/school/files/2011/08/Chem-12-Chapter-1-Opener.pdf