Boiling Point Lab

The purpose of this lab was to determine the relationships between boiling point and molecular structure. To do this we used four different chemicals, all with the same molecule but just with different subscripts. To preform this experiment, we were required to use a hot plate, water bath, alcohols, ketones, and alkalines, a test tube, capillaries, and a test tube cap. Once the water was boiling, we lowered the test tube into the water and waited until the chemical began to boil. Once the chemical began to boil we removed the test tube from the water bath. Finally we needed to carefully watch the capillary and record the temperature at which the chemical began to enter the capillary; this could have been a major source of error. Watching to see when the liquid entered …show more content…
When looking at the pooled class data, many trends appear. One of the major trends is that as chemical formulas get more atoms, they have higher boiling points. This relationship can be explained the the number of bonds that need to be broken before the liquid can become a solid. For example, CH3OH has a much lower boiling point than C3H5OH. C3H5OH has a higher boiling point because there are more bond, especially carbon to hydrogen bonds and the molecule is also longer which increases the forces of the London Dispersion. Another difference between the alcohols, ketones, and alkalines that becomes noticeable when looking at the pooled data is that each of them have different minimum boiling points. It is evident that a larger amount of energy is needed to boil alcohols. More