Activity 2C: Polarity

PROCEDURES:

1. Obtain 2 sauce cups. Place 2 mL of water in one of the cups. In the other cup,
place 2 mL of alcohol.

2. Use the Beral pipet provided to put a small drop of mineral oil in each cup. Stir
the mixture with a toothpick and observe what happens to the drop.
 3. Record your observations in the data table. Dispose of your cups and liquids as
your teacher directs.

Behavior of oil droplet in water Behavior of oil droplet in alcohol

- The oil floats - The oil goes down

- Don’t mix with water - Partially mixed with alcohol
- Remains two phased liquid - Potentially become one phase

QUESTION: In what liquid does the oil dissolve, and why? Justify your answer.

The oil dissolve in alcohol. Alcohol dissolves oil following the principle "like
dissolves like.” This approach is derived from the fact that substances with polar
molecules dissolve with those with polar molecules. Similarly, those with nonpolar
molecules dissolve with others containing nonpolar molecules. As a result, molecules
of the solvent are electrically drawn to the molecules of the solute with similar polarity
while unlike molecules are repelled.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

The oil droplets in water floats above water while in alcohol, oil sink in the bottom and
alcohol goes up and float. The change of position between alcohol and oil shows how
the principle “ like dissolves like” works.

CONCLUSION:
Polar molecules like to stick together. That's because positive charges attract
negative charges. So the positive part of a polar molecule attracts the negative part of
another polar molecule, and the two molecules tend to stay together. When you try to
mix water and oil or alcohol and oil, the polar molecules stick together, keeping the oil
molecules from getting between them-and the two don't mix. 

References:
https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/glitter.html
https://sciencing.com/info-12066577-alcohol-dissolve-oil.html