Solubility Of Primary Alcohols In Water Compared To That Of Alkanes

Improved Essays
a. The solubility of primary alcohols in water compared to that of alkanes. Explain the difference in terms of intermolecular forces.
Solubility of alcohols in water
Small alcohols are completely soluble in water; mixing the two in any proportion generates a single solution. However, solubility decreases as the length of the hydrocarbon chain in the alcohol increases. At four carbon atoms and beyond, the decrease in solubility is noticeable; a two-layered substance may appear in a test tube when the two are mixed.
Consider ethanol as a typical small alcohol. In both pure water and pure ethanol the main intermolecular attractions are hydrogen bonds.
The energy released when these new hydrogen bonds form approximately compensates for the energy
…show more content…
The only new attractions between the alkane and the water molecules are Van der Waals forces. These forces do not release a sufficient amount of energy to compensate for the energy required to break the hydrogen bonds in water.; the alkane does not dissolve. http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Organic_Chemistry/Hydrocarbons/Alkanes/Properties_of_Alkanes/Physical_Properties_of_Alkanes 3. Diamond and graphite are both made of pure carbon. Diamond is the hardest known substance and cannot conduct electricity, while graphite is very soft and can conduct electricity. Analyse how the intermolecular forces acting within these substances lead to the different properties
Diamond
Diamond has a giant molecular structure. Each carbon atom is covalently bonded to four other carbon atoms. A lot of energy is needed to separate the atoms in diamond. This is because covalent bonds are strong, and diamond contains very many covalent bonds. This makes diamond's melting point and boiling point very high.There are no free electrons or ions in diamond, so it does not conduct

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Boiling Point Lab Report

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This is because the oil molecules are much bigger than water molecules that has more surface to stick to one another because more energy is needed to overcome the chemical…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    An isotope is an atom containing different numbers of neutrons, differing in atomic mass. Basically an atom with a different atomic mass. What’s special about radioactive isotopes is that a radioactive isotope has a nucleus that decays spontaneously giving off particles and energy. 6. Radioactive tracers are used in science to label certain chemical substances, so metabolic processes can be followed and substances can be located in an organism.…

    • 1358 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ethanol Research Paper

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Known as the human species oldest recreational drug, Ethanol is a colorless, flammable liquid, with a distinct smell, and burns with a blue flame. It has the chemical formula of CH3CH2OH (it's molecular formula) or C2H6O (it's empirical formula), that can also be abbreviated using chemistry notation as EtOH. It has a melting point at -173.2°F , and a boiling point at 173.1°F. Ethanol has many handy uses around the world, in many different places.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Azeotrope Lab Report

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Based on the theory of free volume, penetrant molecules can diffuse from one place to another if there is a blank space or a free volume sufficient (Mulder, 1991). The movement of heat will produce a magnification of free volume in the membrane. Therefore, the rate of diffusion of each molecule penetrant increased at high temperatures and produce high permeation flux values anyway (Bakhsi et al., 2006). Figure 4.9. The effect of temperature on selectivity for various of membrane composition and ethanol-water (30%-70%) Figure 4.10.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nt1310 Unit 6 Lab

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages

    This then leads to the fact that the partial negative and positive parts of the water molecule can break the bonds of ionic and polar molecules which causes them to dissolve within the…

    • 1594 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nt1310 Unit 6

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages

    They are arranged in a regular pattern and are held closed together. 2. Electrical Conductivity: Metals conduct electricity. The sea of delocalized electrons are mobile and are free to move around in the 3D structure of metals. The electrons can even cross grain the boundaries.…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Minoxidil Research Paper

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Minoxidil, an antihypertensive vasodilator medication, which was developed in the 1950’s by a company called Upjohn originally used to treat ulcers. During their experiments with dogs, they figured out that it did not cure ulcers, but acted as a vasodilator. Due to this recent discovery, Upjohn was able to develop a compound called Minoxidil in 1963 as well as being able to synthesize over 200 variations of the compound. The molecular structure and compound of Minoxidil is C9H15N50, made entirely of nonmetals with the molecular weight being 209.2483 g/mol, the UIPAC name being 3 hydroxy, 2 imino, 6 piperidin, 1 ylpyrimidin, and 4 amine. The percentage composition of carbon being 51.65, hydrogen being 7.24, nitrogen being 33.47, and oxygen being 7.64.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Communication /6 Problem #2 Use the chart you just created to answer the following questions. a) Which substance would be the most corrosive? /1 Sample number 2 is the most basic and corrosive substance between the four samples.…

    • 1333 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Unknown Compounds

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Given an unknown compound in container 3, solubility tests, cation tests, anion tests, and conductivity tests can be used to determine the various properties of the unknown to then make a positive identification of the unknown. These results will not only show chemical and physical properties but also what the unknown compound might react with to form other compounds. After performing the four anion tests, a positive identification was able to be made showing that the unknown compound contained a chloride ion since a white precipitate was formed from the reaction (Table 1). The sulfate, nitrate, and carbonate tests all yielded negative results when no precipitate was formed. The reaction of the chloride anion is as follows: Cl-…

    • 816 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Intermolecular Forces

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages

    INTRODUCTION The trends in physical properties of organic compounds such as boiling points and melting points can be deducted from their structures, including size (molecular weight, surface area), shape and functional groups. These factors significantly influence the strength of the intermolecular forces of attraction present; and the nature and strength of intermolecular forces determine the variations in boilingpoints of organic compounds. The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapor pressure equals the external or atmospheric pressure. At this temperature, every molecules of the liquid acquire enough kinetic energy to overcome the intermolecular forces attracting them to the other molecules.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the book Stuff Matters, Mark Miodownik delves into the intricacies of the materials that allow the modern world to exist and thrive. In chapter 8, Unbreakable, Miodownik discusses the significance and characteristics of various forms of carbon in a historical lens. Although derived from the same element, graphite, diamond, and graphene all have unique properties unlike any other materials. Miodownik begins by offering a relatable anecdote to his childhood art class in order to truly show the readers the prevalence and wonder of carbon. He then focuses the central idea of the chapter on the effect of structure on properties and uses.…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, there are many symbols that may be interpreted as different things. The book has several main symbols throughout it. These symbols include the land, the light, the alcohol, the train station, and the white elephant. Many people have different interpretations of what they think the symbols mean and what each stand for exactly.…

    • 892 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While we thought water wouldn't mix , we predicted Dichloromethane , n-Pentanol,Methanol,Toulene and Water to mix. Again our predictions were not exact in that water did not mix with any of the substances except Methanol. This again was due to water's strong properties of hydrogen bonding, resisting to interact with molecules that do not also have strong properties of hydrogen bonding. While n-Pentanol is capable of hydrogen bonding, in reference to it's size the majority of the molecule does not hydrogen bond, where as Methanols ability to hydrogen bond is significant in reference the molecules small size. 2.…

    • 576 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Oxygen is a strongly electronegative substance while hydrogen is highly positive but when in the form of water the two hydrogen particles remain on one side leaving two pairs of unshared electrons, this results in oxygen have a slight negative charge and hydrogen a slight positive charge (refer to diagram 1). This creates a dipole-dipole force (intermolecular bond) which is responsible to water being adhesive and attracted to most substances. The slight polarity of water attracts other polar molecules, and that is why it is repelled by non-polar substances. The hydrogen bond occurring within water also accounts for the molecules strong cohesive…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    4.0.3. Plastics - Newer plastics are strong, good impact absorber and can be easily replaced when damaged. In the manufacturer’s side, because it has a lower melting point and also great malleability in comparison with metals so it is cheaper to produce. Plastics can be easily formed into shapes as required. They can be also coloured while it is being manufactured, saving time for another process such as painting.…

    • 1064 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays