Name of student: Rhic Vincent T.

Moreno Date performed: 02/06/2020

Section: D -8L Date submitted: 02/18/2020
Group Number: 4

A STUDY OF INTERMOLECULAR FORCES OF ATTRACTION:

Effects on Physical Properties of Matter

I. Introduction
Intermolecular forces collectively define the attractions between the unit particles
that make up an element or compound. All atoms and molecules interact with one another
through a specialized series of intermolecular attractions and bonds. London dispersion
forces dipole-dipole interactions, and hydrogen bondings are examples of intermolecular
forces of attraction. Dipole interactions can only occur in polar molecules and ion
interactions can only occur when ions are present. Hydrogen bonding is a much stronger
version of dipole-dipole interactions that only occurs when an H—F, H—N, or H—O
interacts with another nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine atom. This interaction is especially
powerful because fluorine, oxygen, and nitrogen are the most electronegative elements on
the periodic table while hydrogen is the least electronegative, creating a larger dipole
moment. Lastly, London dispersion forces are a type of attraction that occurs in all existing
matter. They are created by the random motion and vibrations of electrons that create
instantaneous dipoles. Therefore, the more electrons are present in a molecule, the stronger
the dispersion forces will be.

A best example of the strength of intermolecular forces among different

substances is surface tension. Surface tension is the resistance of the surface of a liquid to
stretch. Molecules that exhibit more powerful intermolecular forces will stick together
more tightly and thus appear to have a larger curve on the surface. Those with weaker
intermolecular forces will simply flatten out on a stable surface.

Next is the boiling point of a liquid, it is the temperature at which the vapor
pressure of a liquid equals the pressure surrounding the liquid and the liquid changes into a
vapor. It will increase in correspondence with stronger intermolecular attractions because
 stronger intermolecular forces keep molecules highly attracted to one another; it makes it
much more difficult for them to escape from the liquid phase into the gas phase. Therefore,
more energy is required to cause a phase transition.

The main objective of this exercise is to determine the strength of intermolecular

forces of attractions of the two liquid samples (water and ethanol) on two specific
properties of liquids: surface tension and boiling point.

II. Materials
A. Reagents
Water Ethanol
B. Apparatus and Equipment
Bunsen burners Burettes
Iron rings Thermometers
Iron clamps Iron stands
Glass capillary tubes Triangular stirrers
Small test tubes 250-mL beakers
Funnels
C. Other materials
Cooking oil Digital rulers
Rubber bands
III. Procedure
The exercise was shared by the four groups, in order to finish it immediately.
Group 1 and 2 were tasked to determine the boiling point of the two liquid samples: water and
ethanol while Group 3 and 4 were tasked to determine the surface tension of the liquid samples.

A. Boiling Point Determination

Group 1 and 2 were filled a small test tube with a 2-3 mL of their designated
liquid sample. They attached the test tube to the thermometer with rubber band. They
clamped the tube with the thermometer to an iron stand and submerged it in cooking oil
filled in a 250-mL beaker. After that, they closed one end of the glass capillary tube by
heating it with a Bunsen burner. Then, they let it cooled and placed the capillary tube in
 the test tube. Next, they heated the beaker slowly using a Bunsen burner. They stirred the
oil gently while heating and stirred with triangular stirrer. Lastly they put out the flame
and allowed the test liquid to cool while still in the set-up.

B. Surface Tension Determination

Group 3 and 4 were filled the burette about 10 mL of the test liquid. They allowed
the drops of liquid to slowly come out from the burette. Next, they collected 30 drops of
the liquid in pre-weighted test tube. Lastly, they measured the radius of the burette tip
and weighed the test tube containing the collected liquid drops.

IV. Data/Observations

Table 1.1. Data on the boiling point determination of the liquid samples.

Water Ethanol

Temperature at which rapid

and continuous bubbling 0.90 72
started at (°C)

Temperature at which the

liquid started to enter the 95 71
capillary tube (°C)

Boiling Point Range (°C) 95.109 71-72

Table 1.2. Data on the mass of liquids collected

Water Ethanol

Mass of test tube, g 178.38 22.77

Mass of test tube + liquid, g 10.02 23.24

Mass of liquid, g 1.64 0.47

Table 1.3. Derived data for the determination of surface tension

Water Ethanol

Outer radius of burette tip 0.115 0.18

( r ), cm

Number of drops 30 30

Average drop mass, g 0.055 0.015

Density of liquid, g/cm 0.99705 0.78506

Drop volume (V), cm 0.3828409 0.019956011

r/V 0.302711759 0.663612554

Correction factor (f) 0.73434 0.61457

Surface tension, dyne/cm or 101 22

g/s
Table 1.4. Percentage error in boiling point and surface tension of the liquid samples.

Water Ethanol

Percentage error (Boiling 2 8.8

point), %

Percentage error (Surface 40 1.4

tension), %

V. Discussion
VI. Conclusion
VII. Literature cited / Bibliography
boiling point, and viscosity. Surface tension provides a great example of the strength of
intermolecular forces among different substances. Surface tension refers to the resistance of the
surface of a liquid to stretch. Molecules that exhibit more powerful intermolecular forces will
stick together more tightly and Downloaded by Rhic Moreno (rhicpogi09@yahoo.com)
lOMoARcPSD|4539022 thus appear to have a larger curve on the surface. Those with weaker
intermolecular forces will simply flatten out on a stable surface. The boiling point, or the
temperature at which the liquid form of a substance is at dynamic equilibrium with its gas form,
will increase in correspondence with stronger intermolecular attractions. Because stronger
intermolecular forces keep molecules highly attracted to one another, it makes it much more
difficult for them to escape from the liquid phase into the gas phase. Therefore, more energy is
required to cause a phase transition. The final measure of this experiment is viscosity, which is a
value that demonstrates a liquid’s resistance to flow. In short, more viscous solutions flow much
more slowly than those with low viscosity. Liquids with a low viscosity contain molecules that
can easily flow past one another without much interference due to the absence of extensive
intermolecular forces. Therefore, solutions containing substances exhibiting more intermolecular
attractions will interact with one another more often and result in a slower overall flow.
Procedure At the start of the experiment, three different liquids were each dropped on a flat
benchtop in nearly equal amounts. These liquids included diethyl ether (C4H10O), butanol
(C4H9OH), and glycerine (C3H8O3); all distinct in their intermolecular forces. Each of the
drops was observed and replicated in the lab notebook where they were then analyzed based on
their chemical makeup and appearance. To measure the boiling point of methanol (CH4O), a
medium-sized tube was filled with was slowly heating the water. A thermometer was then
carefully placed in the tube so that it was completely immersed in the vapors produced by the
methanol. The liquid was observed until it began to vaporize into a gas, at which point its exact
temperature was recorded. The final variable that was tested for was the viscosity of ethanol at
approximately room temperature, 20.0 degrees Celsius. The viscometer was cleaned by filling
the larger bulb with ethanol and allowing it to flow through the rubber tubing until it completely
filled the smaller bulb. The liquid was then discarded properly in the waste bucket. A mark was
drawn with a wax pencil on the top and bottom of the smaller bulb to ensure that each trial was
performed using the same amount of ethanol. The small bulb was then filled slightly above the
top mark by raising the larger bulb higher up. Once the larger bulb was brought down to bench
level, the ethanol began to flow down the viscometer, at which the timer began. The timer was
then stopped at the moment that the ethanol had reached the bottom mark on the bulb. This
experiment was repeated another time to ensure accuracy and find an average time that it took
the ethanol to travel from one mark to the other. Results Surface Tension: Observed shape of
glycerine: high curvature and held together tightly like a ball. Observed shape of butanol: very
little curvature and almost completely flat on surface but still held together relatively well.
Observed shape of diethyl ether: no curvature and completely flat on surface. Downloaded by
Rhic Moreno (rhicpogi09@yahoo.com) lOMoARcPSD|4539022 Boiling Point: Table 1: data of
observed boiling points taken from the whole class. Temperatures listed in degrees Celsius. Trial
1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Average Methanol 63.8 65.1 --- --- --- 64.5 Propanol 81.0 82.3
81.7 --- --- 81.7 Isopropano l 84.0 84.3 85.9 84.1 82.0 84.1 Eq. 1 – Percent error:
|actual−measured| actual x 100% Actual boiling point for methanol: 64.7 degrees Celsius % error
= |64.7−64.5| 64.7 x 100% = 0.31% error Actual boiling point for propanol: 97.0 degrees Celsius
% error = |97.0−81.7| 97.0 x 100% = 15.77% error Actual boiling point for isopropanol: 82.6
degrees Celsius % error = |82.6−84.1| 82.6 x 100% = 1.82% error Downloaded by Rhic Moreno
(rhicpogi09@yahoo.com) lOMoARcPSD|4539022 Viscosity: Table 2: time it took for ethanol to
flow from one point to another in the viscometer. Trial 1 Trial 2 Average Ethanol 6.38 seconds
6.23 seconds 6.31 seconds Eq. 2 – equation for finding the viscosity of a liquid in centipoise
(cP). η=Adt, where η = viscosity, d = density, t = time, and A = a viscometer constant different
for each substance. The A constant for ethanol is found by rearranging the previous equation to
solve for A and plugging in known values of ethanol at 20.0 degrees Celsius: a density of 0.789
g/cm3 and a viscosity of 1.1212 cP. The A constant comes out at 0.225 (cP ∙ cm3 )/(g ∙ sec). Plug
this into the viscosity equation and the result is: η = (0.225 (cP ∙ cm3 )/(g ∙ sec))(0.789g/cm3
)(6.31 sec) η = 1.12 cP % error = |1.1212−1.12| 1.1212 x 100% = 0.11% error Discussion These
results indicate that all substances behave differently due primarily to their structures and
properties. Intermolecular forces play a huge role in determining their properties Downloaded by
Rhic Moreno (rhicpogi09@yahoo.com) lOMoARcPSD|4539022 and in determining how a
certain species will interact with another species. Surface tension is the most easily observed of
the primary traits that this study focused on. Glycerine obviously exhibited the most powerful
intermolecular forces of the three by tightly sticking in a ball shape. This phenomenon is the
result of 3 powerful hydrogen bonds that occur when glycerine molecules interact with one
another. These hydrogen bonding interactions can be found on the top of the structure where the
O—H bonds occur. The second most powerful interactions occurred in butanol, which showed a
flatter resemblance than glycerine due to the fact that it only contains one area capable of
hydrogen bonding. Conversely, diethyl ether exhibited no hydrogen bonding interactions and,
therefore, appeared completely flat when observed on the benchtop. Because all three of these
molecules are polar, they all exhibit dipole-dipole interactions. Additionally, because these
molecules are matter and have electrons, they also exhibit dispersion forces. Since glycerine has
the most electrons, it will also exhibit more dispersion forces than the other two. Boiling points
are a bit more difficult to measure due to the rapidity of the process. The temperature must be
recorded at the exact time that the liquid vaporizes in order to obtain an accurate measurement.
The three boiling points being measured in the experiment included: methanol, propanol, and
isopropanol. All of these molecules are polar and exhibit dipole-dipole interactions, as well as
London dispersion forces. Also, they all contain one O—H bond, making them capable of a
single hydrogen bond per molecule. Isopropanol is simply a stereoisomer of propanol, having its
hydroxide group in a different location than propanol. Since isopropanol has its hydroxide group
in the middle, rather than on the side, it will have a lower dipole moment than propanol, which
may explain the difference in boiling points. Because methanol is a single carbon molecule,
rather than containing a triple carbon chain like propanol and isopropanol, one Downloaded by
Rhic Moreno (rhicpogi09@yahoo.com) lOMoARcPSD|4539022 could correctly conclude that
methanol will have a lower boiling point. Methanol having a smaller molar mass than propanol
and isopropanol means that methanol will exhibit less dispersion forces and ultimately require
less kinetic energy to transfer from liquid phase to gas phase. These assumptions can be
confirmed by the data in table 1, which shows the large difference between the boiling points of
methanol and the two propanol isomers. But if propanol has an actual boiling point of 97.0
degrees Celsius, then why did the average come out at 81.7 degrees Celsius? This may have
something to do with the heating agent used being water, which boils at 100.0 degrees Celsius.
Since water and propanol have a relatively similar boiling point, this could have affected the
accuracy of the outcome. This problem may have been fixed if a heating agent with a boiling
point higher than that of water were used. Understanding the intermolecular forces that appear in
solution can help deduce how certain species compare to others in their properties. For example,
since butanol, isobutanol, and t-butyl alcohol are all structural isomers of each other, they will
probably have relatively similar properties, such as boiling point. However, simple changes in
the way the carbon chain is set up can completely alter its properties. They all have one spot for
hydrogen bonding to occur, the same London dispersion forces, but slightly different dipole
moments. T-butyl alcohol is the least polar of the three and will ultimately have the lowest
boiling point, followed by isobutanol and then butanol. Compounds like these are more difficult
to differentiate than a group of molecules like ethanol, ethylene glycol, and glycerine. By
looking at their structures, ethanol clearly has 1 hydrogen bonding pair, ethylene glycol has 2,
and glycerine has 3. With this information, one could conclude that glycerine will have the
highest boiling point due to its three potential hydrogen bonds per molecule. Ethanol, having
only one hydrogen bond, will evaporate at a much lower temperature than glycerine will.
Downloaded by Rhic Moreno (rhicpogi09@yahoo.com) lOMoARcPSD|4539022 Ethanol’s
single hydrogen bond still gives it stronger interactions than most molecules. These interactions
can be tested through the use of a viscometer, which aids in determining resistance to flow.
Ethanol exhibited an average of 6.31 seconds to travel from mark 1 to mark 2 in the experiment.
When plugged into the equation, it was determined that ethanol had a viscosity of about 1.12
centipoise, which only leaves a 0.11% error against its actual value of 1.1212 cP. Because the
laboratory setting remained constant at about 20.0 degrees Celsius and 1 atm, the viscosity was
not negatively affected by external influences, such as temperature change. More complex
molecules, like ethylene glycol and glycerine, would have a significantly higher viscosity than
ethanol because of their additional hydrogen bonds that keep them more tightly attracted. These
attractions will decrease the liquid’s ability to flow freely, resulting in increased flow resistance.
Conclusion In short, intermolecular forces are responsible for the interactive properties between
all molecules and can be used to effectively describe certain phenomena. For example, why do
water beads appear on a vehicle after it has being washed? This surface tension is caused by the
powerful intermolecular forces in water molecules tightly pulling it together through hydrogen
bonding. Substances containing more attractive forces require more energy to remove their
atoms than nonpolar species that can only display their weaker dispersion forces. This concept
alone can be applied to just about anything in the natural world that interacts. Each individual
substance contains its own special properties that, with just a little bit of thought, can be
exploited and put to use in industry, medicine, diet, and just about anything else one could think
of.