Recasting the usual distillation experiment in the first semester of organic chemistry laboratory into a guided-inquiry “separations” experiment

CHED 106

L. Liliana Garcia, garcial@wssu.edu, Department of Chemistry, Winston-Salem State University, 601 S. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, WBA 305, Winston-Salem, NC 27110
In the first semester of Organic Chemistry laboratory, the simple and fractional distillations of a mixture of cyclohexane and toluene are usually performed to introduce the students to the technique of distillation. Students often find this experiment very frustrating because acquiring accurate data for this experiment with the limiting experience they have is difficult. Here, a new experiment is proposed that expands on the experiences of the students, and it is not limited to distillation, but utilizes other laboratory techniques such as extraction, filtration, decanting, and evaporation to separate two solids, two immiscible liquids, two miscible liquids and a nonvolatile solid dissolved in a liquid.
 

General Posters
7:30 PM-9:30 PM, Sunday, April 6, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Hall A, Poster

Division of Chemical Education

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008