Week 5 - Moonshin’ Lab

Name(s): Marie Brashears, Evan Lincoln, Laura Masho, Jackson Kunz

Date: February 23, 2010

Goal & Theory: Grading Only: 1 2 3 4 5

First, a distillation setup was built consisting of a digital hotplate (to more
precisely regulate temp.), a round-bottom flask, and a condenser. Then, the
alcohol mixture was heated to 95 degrees Celsius to boil off the ethanol, but not
the impurities, including water. The gaseous Ethanol was then run through a
condenser which condensed it back into a liquid. the resulting liquid was then run
through the apparatus one more time, and then massed, and measured.

Data and Results: Grading Only: 1 2 3 4 5

Initial Volume Alcohol 20 mL

Volume Ethanol Produced 1.5 mL

Mass Ethanol 1.62 g

Moles Ethanol 0.035 moles

Observed Ethanol Density 1.08 g/cm3

Actual Ethanol Density 0.789 g/cm3

Percent Error 37%

Calculations: Grading Only: 1 2 3 4 5

[For each calculation, include a brief description above the calculation. Write your
calculations in by hand. BOX your answer. An example would be, “Here is how I
found the limiting reagent.” Then you write the calculations by hand, being sure
to BOX your answer. Be sure to calculate the mass percent of ethanol in your
original mixture and to show any other calculations you made to verify that you
had collected pure ethanol. Be sure to include any calculations you needed to
answer the conclusion questions.]
Conclusion Questions: Grading Only: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1. List two things you could measure about the ethanol to determine if it
was pure.
1. Density
2. Re-distillation
2. What happens to the density of your original mixture as your experiment
progresses? Explain.
The original density of the mixture becomes lower because water’s density is
greater than that of ethanol and when you distill the mixture, the distilled mixture
has higher amounts of ethanol than the original solution.

3. You probably found that your first run did not produce pure ethanol.
What else was in it and why?
Water was in the mixture because of the similar boiling points of ethanol and
water, which made extracting the pure ethanol very difficult.

4. In years past, lab grade ethanol was used in this experiment. The
problem, of course, was that lab grade ethanol has 5% by mass of the
“pollutants” isopropyl alcohol and methanol in it. This is so that it can not
be consumed, and thus, neither taxed nor regulated by the US Alcohol &
Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Explain, using IMF’s, why the lab grade
ethanol and water mixture would most likely remain harmful to consume
even after being distilled in the experiment.
Both Methanol, IsopropylAlcohol, and Ethanol are polar, and would experience a small, but noticeable
degree of Hydrogen Bonding, which would keep the Ethanol from being totally separated from the other
two compounds and therefore would make it unsuitable for consumption.

5. Explain what fractional distillation is and what the “fractions” are as well
as what the “distillate” is.
Fractional distillation is the distillation of a liquid into fractional components by
way of differing billing points.. The "fractions" are ratios of the components
forming the distillate, which is the liquid being distilled.