Purification of Benzoic Acid by Sublimation and

Melting Point Determination

T.H. Tsai, R.F Vila, K.Y.* Visco, R.G. Vivar, J.C. Zafra, J.C. Ziganay

Abstract:

Sublimation is the process by which a substance undergoes conversion from the solid phase to the gas
phase, without going through the intermediate liquid phase. This experiment aims to purify benzoic acid
through sublimation, compute for its percentage recovery and compare its purified substance with a
standard to determine its melting point. The impure benzoic acid is heated in an evaporating dish covered
with inverted watch glass and after some time, the sublimate is collected for percentage recovery
computation and also packed in a capillary tube for its melting point determination. A result of 7.88% of
percentage recovery was achieved from the sublimation process and a result of 130C was obtained in
the melting point determination indicating that the pure substance (standard) and the sublimate are the
same.

Introduction: surface which has a non-volatile residue

Sublimation is the process by which a
substance undergoes conversion from
the solid phase to the gas phase,
without going through the liquid phase.
In this phenomenon, the transition from
the solid to the gaseous state requires
an intermediate liquid state [1]. A number
of solids can simply change into vapors;
these vapors can sublime, meaning that
vapors form a solid without going
through the liquid state. A good example
that can undergo sublimation is ice
when pressure is reduced, 1/100th of
the usual atmospheric pressure.
Sublimation is helpful in purifying some
solids like menthol, naphthalene, iodine,
etc. [2]. Sublimation is a technique used
by chemists to purify compounds. Under
this reduced pressure, the solid
volatilizes and condenses as a purified
compound on a cooled surface. Once
heating ceases, the purified compound
may be collected from the cooling
of impurities behind [1]. Benzoic acid
was first obtained by sublimation from
gum benzoin. This is also known as
flowers of benzoin [3]. Benzoic acid in
its basic form is called impure benzoic
acid. The impurities that are in the newly
formed benzene are because of phenyl
and benzyl compounds that seriously
affect the product. The impurities
contain amino compounds that are
present in a larger extent inside impure
benzene [4]. A pure benzoic acid can be
obtained from recrystallization and
sublimation but in this test, well focus
on sublimation.
The melting point of a substance is the
temperature at which its solid and liquid
phases coexist in equilibrium. The
normal melting point of a substance is
its melting point at one atmosphere
pressure. Changes in pressure have
very small effects on melting points, but
they have large effects on boiling points
[5].
The experiment aims to purify benzoic
acid by sublimation, to determine and
compare the melting point of the product
with a standard and to calculate its
percentage recovery that is obtained.
Methodology:
Figure 3.1 Sublimation set-up
Figure 3.2 Melting point set-up
Five grams of impure benzoic acid is
weighed in an evaporating dish. The
evaporating dish is covered with a
perforated filter paper. An inverted pre-
weighed watch glass is placed on the
top of filter paper and heated by a hot
plate. Figure 3.1 is given to serve as
guide. The watch glass is cooled with a
tissue paper placed on the top of watch
glass that is kept moist with water. The
sample is heated for 10-15 minutes until
the sample has vaporized. When the
set-up is cooled, it is said that the pre-
weighed glass must be inverted. The
sublimate is collected and weighed in
the watch glass.
For melting point determination, the
sublimate was ground into a fine powder
and a capillary tube is pressed into the
powder. The closed end of the capillary
tube is dropped several times through a
glass tubing until it is well-packed with
approximately 1mm of the sublimate.
The capillary tube is attached to a
thermometer with a piece of rubber
band together with the standard pure
benzoic acid that is also packed in a
capillary tube. Refer to the Figure 3.2 on
the set-up for the melting point
determination.
Results:
The results in the experiments are given
here:
Weight of the impure benzoic acid:
5g
Weight of the watch glass + sublimate:
124.5g
 benzoic acid that has been obtained
based on the experiment is 130C.
Weight of the watch glass (empty):
This means that when 5g of benzoic
124.20g
acid is subjected to the process
Weight of the sublimate: sublimation, 0.3938g of sublimate will be
0.3938g obtained and its percentage recovery
shows that 7.88% of the pure substance
is produced from the starting material.
Percentage recovery:
The melting point determination dictated
that the sublimate obtained is a pure
substance having the same melting
100%
point with the standard pure benzoic
acid which is 130C.
0.3938
100% = 7.88%
5 References:

Melting point of benzoic acid 1.Sublimation (chemistry). New World

Encyclopedia. 24 Feb. 2007.
<http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/
entry/Sublimation_%28chemistry%29>
Pure Benzoic
Sublimate 2.Sublimation.
Acid <http://www.scribd.com/doc/6779999/07
t1 = 124C t1 = 124C -Sublimation>
t2 = 130C t2 = 130C 3. Benzene. Wikipedia: The Free
Encyclopedia. 23 Jul. 2011.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene>
Discussions:
4.What Is Impure Benzoic Acid? Mike
In the experiment performed, the Charmaine. eHow Health.
sublimate is formed at the cooling <http://www.ehow.com/about_6629946_
surface (inverted face) of the watch impure-benzoic-acid_.html>
glass after heating for about 10-15
5. Whitten, Davis, Peck and Stanley.
minutes. The sublimate weighed about
Chemistry, Ninth Edition. Canada, 2010.
0.3938g and a percentage recovery of
p.468.
7.88% was obtained from the ratio of the
weight of the sublimate and the weight
of the impure benzoic acid then
multiplying it by 100%. The melting point
of the sublimate as well as the pure