EXPERIMENT 7

%age composition of Sucrose Solution

Name: ------------------------------------ St. Id.: ------------------------------------

Section: ---------------------------------- Date: -------------------------------------

Objectives
After performing this experiment students will be able to:

• understand kinetics of chemical reactions

• order of a chemical reaction.
• monitoring of rate of chemical reaction by polarimetric method.
• %age composition of sucrose in a mixture.

Experiment
Determine the %age of sucrose in the given sample solution by polarimetric method.

Theory
The angle of rotation of polarized light passing through the solution is measured with a polarimeter. The
reaction is

C12H22O11 + H2O + H+ C6H12O6 + C6H12O6 + H+

Sucrose Glucose Fructose

Sucrose is dextrorotatory, but the resulting mixture of glucose and fructose is slightly levorotatory,
because the levorotatory fructose has a greater molar rotation than the dextrorotatory glucose. As the
sucrose is used up and the glucose-fructose mixture is formed, the angle of rotation to the right (as the
observer looks into the polarimeter tube) becomes less and less, and finally the light is rotated to the left.
The rotation is determined at the beginning (ao) and at the end of the reaction (a∞), and the algebraic
difference between these two readings is a measure of the original concentration of the sucrose. The
reaction proceeds too slowly to be measured in pure water, but it is catalyzed by hydrogen ions. The
water is in such large excess that its concentration does not change appreciably, and the reaction follows
the equation for a first-order reaction, even though two different kinds of molecules are involved in the
reaction. This same reaction in biological systems is catalyzed by an enzyme called invertase. The
hydrolysis of sucrose into single sugars is necessary before the sugars can be metabolized. In humans,
the invertase enzyme is found in saliva.
Procedure
1. Set up a sodium vapour lamp at a distance equal to the focal length of the lens from the end of
polarimeter.
2. Clean the polarimeter tube and fill it with distilled water. There should be no air bubble in the
tube and no liquid drop outside the window.
3. Place the tube in the polarimeter.
4. Look through eye piece on the analyzer and focus on the light shade boundary in the field of
view.
5. Determine the zero point of polarimeter by rotating the analyzer until the two halves of the
field view are equally illuminated.
6. Note the reading through the scale eye piece. If this reading is not zero, it is recorded and used
for correcting the subsequent reading.
7. After doing calibration, the tube is rinsed and filled with solution having 2 % concentration.
8. Now carry out measurement for each concentration of sucrose in the same manner as in the
calibration step.

Calculations
Length of the tube = 2 dm

Room temperature = ºC

Zero correction = ±

Observed Rotation Corrected Rotation (α)

Sr. No. Concentration (%)
(α) Degree Degree

1 2

2 4

3 6

4 8

5 10

6 12

7 Unknown
 α

Unknown Concentration

%age composition of Sucrose

Figure 1. Graph between %age composition of sucrose and degree of rotation

Result:-
Exercise

Q.1 Name two other compounds whose % age composition can be calculated by polarimetric method?

Q.2 What is the effect of temperature on rotation of a compound?

Q.3 Describe the important applications of polarimetry.

Q.4 A solution of sucrose was prepared by dissolving 1g of sucrose in 7 ml of solution. What will be the
concentration of sucrose in this solution.