CHEM 86L CHEMISTRY FOR ENGINEERS LABORATORY

WATER: PROPERTIES AND PURIFICATION | EXPERIMENT

6
Experiment 6
Water: Properties and Purification
There is no doubt that water is vital to living organisms. Besides being the most plentiful
chemical compound on the Earth’s surface, water makes up roughly 50-95% of the composition
of living cells, depending on their function and nutrient content. As a chemical compound, water
possesses some unique physical and chemical properties that make it an ideal compound for
life.

A water molecule, because of its shape, is a polar molecule. That is, it has one side that is
positively charged and one side that is negatively charged. The molecule is made up of two
hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. The bonds between the atoms are called covalent
bonds, because the atoms share electrons. When two water molecules get close together, the
polar forces work to draw the molecules together. The oxygen atom of one water molecule will
bond with hydrogen atoms of other water molecules. These bonds are called hydrogen bonds.
Hydrogen bonds are not as strong as covalent bonds, but they are strong enough to bind water
molecules together and give water its unique characteristics.

Water is not always pure – it is often found as part of a mixture. A mixture is a material
composed of two or more elements or compounds that are physically mixed together but not
chemically combined. Different purification techniques can be employed to purify water.
Distillation is a process for the purification or separation of the components in a liquid mixture.
The mixture is heated to evaporate the volatile liquid components, and the vapor is then
condensed to a liquid. How does the composition of the liquid that is collected (called the
distillate) differ from the composition of the original liquid?

In this lab activity, you will explore a few of water’s properties by performing some experiments
that illustrate water’s importance to life.

PROCEDURE

A. Polarity

A.1

1. Fill one test tube with 5.0 mL tap water. Fill another tube with 5.0 mL ethanol.

2. Add 0.500 g NaCl and add it in the test tube with water. Swirl.

3. Repeat step 2 but this time, add the NaCl in the test tube containing ethanol. Swirl.

4. Repeat the experiment but this time, use 0.500 g sugar, C 12H22O11, instead of NaCl.
Record observations.

A.2

1. Add 2.0 mL of water and 2.0 mL of ethanol in two separate test tubes.

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WATER: PROPERTIES AND PURIFICATION | EXPERIMENT
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2. Add 1 drop of vegetable oil into each test tube. Shake the mixture and record
observations.

B. Purification by Distillation
1. Pour 50 mL of the dyed water solution into a distilling flask. Add 2-3 boiling chips.

2. Attach a rubber tubing to a faucet and connect it to the water inlet located at the
bottom arm of the condenser. Attach another piece of rubber tubing to the upper
arm of the condenser and place the open end of the tubing in the sink.

3. Set-up the distillation apparatus as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Distillation Set-up

4. Secure the distilling flask into position. Take note of the position of the thermometer
bulb and the water connections. Use a pre-weighed 50-mL graduated cylinder as the
receiver.

5. Have your set-up approved by your instructor before starting the distillation process.

6. Turn on the faucet (attached to the condenser’s water inlet) and run water through
the condenser.

6. Light the Bunsen burner and heat the distilling flask.

7. When the solution starts to boil, start recording the temperature for every minute of
the distillation. You can stop the distillation when you have collected about 20 mL of
pure water, but do not let your distilling flask go dry. You can plot your data using
graph paper, or you can plot your data using a computer program.

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8. After you have collected your distillate (the distilled liquid), and you have stopped
the distillation let the entire setup cool for about 10 minutes before dismantling.

9. Measure the mass of the graduated cylinder containing the distillate and calculate the
density of the distillate.

10. Return the boiling chips to the counter.

Waste disposal: All liquid wastes may be disposed in the sink with running water.

REFERENCES

1. https://www.flinnsci.com/api/library/Download/

2. http://www.lodi.k12.wi.us/faculty/tenbaca/Properties.pdf

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WATER: PROPERTIES AND PURIFICATION | EXPERIMENT
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Name: Lawrence Samuel C. Alcantara Locker No.:

Co-Workers: Section: E2B
Rafael Jose S. Quijano Date Performed:
Neil Bryan C. Tabaranza Attendance:

Expt. 6Water: Properties and Purification

Objectives: Preparation/prelab data:

- Explore water’s properties through the Observation:
polarity tests and purification by distillation.
Postlab Questions:
Conclusion:
TOTAL:

Apparatus: Symbols of Chemicals:

- Test tube, test tube rack, 10mL graduated H2O - water
cylinder, spatula, dropper, NaCl - salt
- distilling flask, condenser, thermometer C12H22O11 - sugar
holder, three-way adapter, receiving adapter,
thermometer, iron stands, utility clamps, C2H5OH – ethanol
25mL graduated cylinder, electronic balance, C18H36O2 – vegetable oil
hot plate, stopwatch, boiling chips, distilled
water, ethanol, sodium chloride, sugar, and
vegetable oil
Procedure: (Note: Construct schematic diagram on a separate sheet)

Observations:

TABLE A. PROPERTIES OF WATER

Solvent Water Ethanol

Solute
NaCl  Clear  Clear
 No presence of NaCl  NaCl seen at the bottom
 Mixed  Not completely mixed
Sugar  Clear  Clear
 No sugar seen  Sugar seen at the bottom
 Mixed  Not completely mixed
Vegetable oil  Clouded  Clear
 Oil seen above the water  No oil seen
 Dull color of oil  Mixed
 Not mixed

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WATER: PROPERTIES AND PURIFICATION | EXPERIMENT
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TABLE B1. DISTILLATION TEMPERATURE READINGS (Add more rows if needed.)
Time (min) Temperature Reading (oC)
0 minutes 100.9
1 minutes 101
2 minutes 101.3
3 minutes 101.4
4 minutes 101.5
5 minutes 101.6
6 minutes 101.7
7 minutes 101.8
8 minutes 101.85
9 minutes 101.9
10 minutes 101.91
11 minutes 101.9
12 minutes 101.89
13 minutes 101.88
14 minutes 101.85
15 minutes 101.83
16 minutes 101.8
17 minutes 101.78
18 minutes 101.75
19 minutes 101.72
20 minutes 101.7
21 minutes 101.68
22 minutes 101.65
23 minutes 101.62
24 minutes 101.6
25 minutes 101.58
26 minutes 101.56
27 minutes 101.55
28 minutes 101.54
29 minutes 101.53
30 minutes 101.52
31 minutes 101.5
32 minutes 101.48
33 minutes 101.45

GRAPH: DISTILLATION TEMPERATURE VS TIME

<Insert graph here>

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TABLE B2. DISTILLATION DISCRIPTIVE DATA

Descriptions / Observations
Appearance of original colored water Clear and bluish

Appearance of distillate Clear with no color

Appearance of water remaining in flask Clear and bluish

Density of distillate, g/mL 1.02g/mol

Density of water, g/mL 1.00g/mol

Boiling point of distillate, oC 101 degrees Celsius

Boiling point of water, oC 100 degrees Celsius

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POST-LAB QUESTIONS: Limit your answer in 3-5 sentences only.
1. What is the polarity of water? Relate this to its composition and structure. (3 pts)
Since water is considered a polar molecule, it would mean that it has both a negatively and
positively charged side. It is also known that since water has a bent shaped molecule at a
104.5-degree angle, it should also be known that it is electronegative. This would define its
polarity, since the composition of water is two unidentical hydrogen atoms with an oxygen
atom. In the end this would create the hydrogen bond known as H2O.

2. What type of intermolecular force occurs between water and each the following
substances? Relate this to the substance’s polarity. If you think there is no interaction. (6
pts)
a. NaCl
In the NaCl experiment, both H2O and NaCl have ion-dipole forces, since NaCl from the
experiment could be noticed that is dissolves in the water. This would mean that NaCl is polar,
and therefore has dissolved in the water which has created an ionic bond, this is the result of
NaCl’s negative ions with the positive ions of H2O. H2O is known to have little to no chlorine if
it has not been purified fully, so this would mean that the negative chloride ions had a share in
breaking apart the NaCl into its elemental components which in the end dissolve it. It creates
iron-dipole forces through this experiment.

b. Glucose
In its complex intermolecular forces, glucose is known to have formed 3 types of bonds –
dipole-dipole, hydrogen bonds, and London Dispersion forces. When it is mixed in water, it is
dissolved – just as what has happened with H2O and NaCl – wherein the water molecules
breakdown the glucose positively and negatively charged poles, weakening them until they
break apart. Although there are 3 types of bonds, in this experiment it has emphasized the
discovery of hydrogen bonding through the act of dissolving glucose in the water.

c. Vegetable oil
Through basic observation, it is noted that vegetable oil and water do not mix well together,
hence they are both nonpolar. Instead of being attracted to the water, vegetable oil is repelled
by it. Another observation would be since they are both non-polar, they would rather attract
their own molecules to themselves. This would also explain why they are separated into
different layers comprised of vegetable oil and H2O. There would be no interaction in both,
simply because they are non-polar.

3. How does the polarity of ethanol compare to water? How was this demonstrated in the
experiment? (3 pts)
Through observation, Ethanol has a different reaction when used to create aqueous solutions
in contrast to water, because ethanol would attract nonpolar molecules. This is because
ethanol’s functional group contains 2 different groups – hydroxyl group and ethyl group, these
two would contradict each other because one is polar and the other is non-polar, however
through the experiment it is seen that it can be both, even at the same time. This could be
evidence and proof that it is non-polar and polar since it attracted the oil. In conclusion and
based via the video, it could be seen that ethanol is the opposite of water.

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4. What is distillation? How does it separate the components in a liquid solution? (3 pts)
The term distillation is the process of separating the substance from a liquid solution or fluid
mixture. It Is separated through both evaporation and condensation – multiple times even or
in long time scales in order to produce a required amount. A solution is evaporated which
would produce vapors – which is collected in a tube for most common distillation procedures.
Until the vapor gathers enough molecules and mass, it slides down to a container thus getting
the end-product.

5. Compare the boiling point and density of the distillate to those of pure water. Is the
distillate water? (3 pts)
It would be observed that the distillate or the liquid solution would have a higher boiling
point due to the fact that it is more concentrated. The distillate would have a higher value but
would yield less volume, because after the distillation process, through evaporation and
condensation, masses would also be lost alongside the volume, leaving behind only the
distillate – as compared to pure water. Although both are similar, the distillate is more pure
because it has undergone distillation, which would have cleared off most unwanted molecules
and contaminants.

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Construct your schematic diagram here.

B. Polarity
Test tube A Test tube B add Test tube C Test tube D add
add 2.0mL H2O 2.0mL C2H5OH add 2.0mL H2O 2.0mL C2H5OH

+ pinch of NaCl, + pinch of C12H22O11,

swirl, record swirl, record
Test tube E addTest tube F add
2.0mL H2O2.0mL C2H5OH

+ drop of C18H36O2, shake, record

A. Purification of Water

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Weigh empty 25mL + 50mL H2O to + 2-3 boiling chips Construct the setup below and
graduated cylinder distilling flask get it checked by instructor

Connect water inlet rubber

tube to faucet and water outlet rubber tube to sink

Turn on faucet and hot plate

As solution boils, record

temperature for every minute of distillation

Record and observe the

distillate after the process and let setup cool before returning the parts

After distillation, measure mass of graduated cylinder with

distillate then observe, record, and calculate needed values

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