Lab report

Determinating the mollar mass of a

Volatile liquid

Student: Katarina lalovi

Professor: Jasminka Omerovi

Date: 28.11.2012.

Aim:
The aim of this experiment is to evaporate a sample of a liquid substance and measure certain
physical properties of the substance as it condenses and to determine its molar mass.

Materials:
1. materials: hot bath
3 test tubes
aluminium foil
holder of a test tube
needle
analytic balance
tissues
googles
gloves
labcoat
2. chemicals: unknown volatile liquid
ice cubes
water

Hypothesis:
As the unknown liquid evaporates the data obtained used in the ideal gas equation should
dfetermine which substance it is.

Variables:
Dependent variables: mass of the liquid
Independent variables: molar mass of the unknown volatile liquid
Control variables: temperature, pressure, time.

Procedure:
A small test tube was covered with a piece of aluminium foil. A needle was used to make a
hole in the aluminium foil. The sensitive balance was used to measure the mass of test tube
covered with the foil. A hot water bath was prepared for this experiment. Now, a liqud sample
of an unknown volatile compound was obtained. It was poured about 0.5 ml of the liquid into
the test tube, which was then quickly covered with the aluminium foil. Then, test tube was
placed in the hot-water bath so that the aluinium foil was above the water level. Test tube was
heated to boiling untill the liquid vaporized. When it vapourized, test tube was held in the
bath for three more minutes. For that time, the ice-water bath was prepared (ice cubes were
put in the water). Then, test tube was taken out. The temperature and pressure were recorded
and will be used in the ideal gas law calculations. The test tube holder was used to quickly
transfer test tube to the ice water bath. Tets tube was cool for one minute, then removed and
dried completely. Mass of the test tube was measured again after the cooling. Now, for the
end, the test tube was rinsed and filled with tap water till the top and was covered with
aluminium foil. Then, the mass of test tube, auminium foil and water were measured and
recorded. At the end we repeated the procedure two more times to get more precise results.

Safety:
For this experiment, googles, labcoat and gloves were necessary to prevent the possibility to
get burns and injuries.

Results :
Data collection
Qualitative:
The liquid was colorless and had a sharp smell. It vaporizes at the temperature about 88.8 C.
Quantitative:
Test tube+foil/g (m1)
Test tube+foil after
heating/g (m2)
Test tube+foil+tap
water/g
Temperature/C
Pressure /kPa*

Trial 1
19.458

Measurements
Trial 2
Trial 3
19.266
19.453

Average

Error

Unc/%

19.392

0.001 g

0.005

19.497

19.312

19.499

19.436

0.001 g

0.005

43.210

42.563

42.899

42.890

0.001 g

0.002

89.5

87.4

88.8
100.78

88.5

0.5 C

0.5

*unc=(error/value)*100
* p = const.

Data processing:
In order to calculate the molar mass of volatile liquid, ideal gas equation is used pV=nRT,
where:
p average room pressure; p = 100. 78 kPa * 103 = 100 780 Pa
V average volume of test tube used in experiment, the space which gas occupied after
vaporization; mass of the test tube will be multiplied by 10 -6, to get the volume in m3; V =
42.890 * 0.000001; therefor V= 0.000042890 m3
R gasseous constant; R = 8.314 J/Kmol
T average temperature needed for vaporization of the liquid; T = 88.8 + 273 = 361 K
First, number of moles will be calculated:
n = pV / RT
n = 100 780 Pa * 0.000042890 m3 / 8.314 J/Kmol * 361 K
n = 4 Pa m3 / 3001 J/mol
n = 0.001 mol
Number of moles of the liquid that vaporized is 0.001 mol. Now, when we have this number,
we can calculate molar mass:
n=m/MM=m/n
M = (m2 m1) / 0.001 mol
M = 0.044 g / 0.001 mol M = 44 g/mol

At, the end, molar mass of my volatile liquid is 44 g/mol. The book value for this experiment
was 46.07 g/mol, which is bigger than mine result, but according to mistakes Ive made
during the experiment, the difference is not that big. Considering all the possible mistakes my
final result is 44 g/mol 0.5 %.

Conclusion:
book valueexperimental value
100 =
book value
46.0744
100 =
=
46.07
2
=
*100 =
46.07
= 0.04 * 100 = 4 %

Total % error =

Total error is 4 % .
Random error = of all unc. = ( 0.005 + 0.005 + 0.002 + 0.5) = 0.5 %
Random error is 0.5 % .
Systematic error = total % error random error = 4 0.5 = 3 %
Systematic error is 3 %.

Evaluation:
According to all the data Ive collected, this liquid fits into the description of ethanol .
Ethanol, with formula C2H5OH, is an alcohol with molar mass 46.07 g/mol, it vaporizes on
the temperature around 78.9 C and it is colourless, as mine liquid.
In this experiment, lots of different mistakes, could have happened without paying attention
on some details.
First mistake, was mine left-handedness. Maybe, I didnt pay attention on how much liquid I
put in the test tube, that is needed to vaporize. I put few drops less, which can lower the mass
of the gas that occupied the test tube after vaporization, but also, a mistake could be made, if
the liquid didnt vaporize properly, which means that a few drops were left in the test tube.
One mistake, that was mine fault, was that I didnt wait the hot bath to reach the certain
temperature, but I put the test tube after the water reached temperature of the 40 C, so I
needed to wait more time for my liquid o vaporize. But also, I had problems with hot bath,
because it needed lot of time to reach the right temperature. My boiling temperature, is
slightly bigger than the regular one on which liquid vaporizes.
When collecting the data, I also could have made a mistake, because of, for example,
temperature wasnt constant, and if I didnt record the temperature in the same time as I took
my test tube out of the hot bath, it could change slightly, or even for one whole degree.
And for the end, I should mention filthy test tubes. In mine, I noticed some white particles,
that could affect the boiling temperature of the liquid.

In order to improve this experiment, I would recomend to wait untill the hot bath reaches the
right temperature, which was about 80 C, which is the average temperature needed for
alcohols to start evaporation.
If I had enough time, which I didnt, I would wash each test tube once again and dry it
completely. Each, smallest particle could affect the result.
After I put the test tube in hot bath, I would wait until it has fully vaporized, and leave it for
more than 3 minutes in it, to make sure that everything has vaporized.
I would be accurate in recording the data. Each small change should be recorded in the
notebook, because it could somehow affect my result. Especially, accuracy is needed when
recording the mass and the temperature.
When talking about the mass, I would make sure that I fully dried my test tube before the
measurement, because, few drops of water could increase mass abnormally for these
conditions.
While measuring the volume of my test tube, I noticed that in one of the test tubes I spilled
few drops, which could also affect my volume recordings, so next time I could be more
precise while filling the test tube with water.
And last but not the least, I would do more trials, because they can always help me to
understand where did I make the previous mistake.
So in order to improve the experiment, I have to improve my manipulative skills, be precise,
accurate and take care of the instruments in the lab.