Solubility, Specific Gravity, and Refractive Index

I.

Introduction and Objective

Lipids may be characterized in a number of ways. They are soluble in organic
solvents but not in water. They have a specific gravity of less than 1.0. They may also
be characterized by their refractive indexes, which may correlate to specific
structural features such as unsaturation or chain length. The objective of this
exercise is to illustrate some of these characteristics of lipids.

II.

Materials
Vegetable oils: corn, soybean, cottonseed, safflower, peanut, olive 250 ml of
each
20 ml chloroform
20 ml toluene
20 ml alcohol
250-ml graduated cylinders
Hydrometer
Refractometer

Completion time: 3045 minutes

Complications: When working with organic solvents, be sure to work in a fume
hood and use gloves.
III.

Procedure;
1. In a large test tube (25 x 200 mm), place 20 ml of water and 5 ml of vegetable oil.
Shake vigorously and observe.
2. Place in each of three large test tubes (25x200 mm), respectively, 20 ml of
toluene, 20 ml of alcohol, and 20 ml of chloroform. To each tube add 5 ml of
vegetable oil. Shake vigorously and observe.
3. Nearly fill the graduated cylinder with vegetable oil at a temperature of 60F.
Introduce a hydrometer
into the oil and determine the specific gravity of the oil.
4. Determine the refractive index of each of the oils using a refractometers.

IV.

Questions
1. In which solvents did the oil dissolve? Why?
2. What quality of oil is demonstrated by specific gravity?
3. Relate the structures of the various oils to their refractive indices.