LICEO DE CAGAYAN

UNIVERSITY
Rodolfo N. Pelaez Boulevard, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro
City
COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
NAME: Wesley James N. Asas DATE: 3/13/2022 LABORATORY EXPERIMENT 3

SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION OF ORGANIC COMPOUND:

SUBLIMATION

I. Objective: At the end of the activity, the students are expected to: 1.
Purify impure salicylic acid via sublimation technique
2. Identify the separation and purification technique

II. Discussion
The direct conversion of a substance from a solid to gas without passing through
the liquid state is sublimation. As a process of separation, it can be applied when the
compounds of a solid mixture differ appreciably in their vapor pressures. It involved
gently heating the mixture in a confined container until particles of the solid escape
into the vapor phase. When the vapors are condensed on a cold surface, crystals of
the components with high vapor pressure can be collected with the component of
lower vapor pressure left in the container.
As a process of purification, it also depends on differences in volatility, that is, in
the case with which the substance can be vaporized. Less volatile or non-volatile
impurities will remain behind as a residue after the purified solid has been collected.
Although sublimation is convenient to apply and requires less time, its
applicability is limited. It cannot be used for separation of compounds having similar
vapor pressures.

III. Chemicals & Materials

salicylic acid 5% BaCl₂ solution

sodium sulfate distilled water

beaker or evaporating dish wire gauze

hot plate hotplate

IV. Procedure
1. Place a mixture of one gram salicylic acid and a pinch of sodium sulfate in a
clean, dry beaker.

2. Cover the beaker with a round-bottom flask or evaporating dish filled with
coldwater. (Be careful so as not to spill the water and wet the mixture in the
beaker.)
 3. Heat gently with a low flame or by placing it on a sand bath or hot plate.
Observe the formation of the sublimate in pure crystalline form on the

LICEO DE CAGAYAN
UNIVERSITY
Rodolfo N. Pelaez Boulevard, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro
City
COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
bottom of the cold flask and on the side walls inside the beaker. Cool the
set-up completely and scrape some of the crystals.
- The solid particles were not visible and it gave off some mist inside the
beaker. And when cooled down, the scraper had some crystals that looked
like spikes and the particles collected were hardened.

4. Dissolve some crystals in 1-2 ml hot distilled water in a test tube. Add 1-2
drops of 5% BaCl₂ solution. Observe and record the result.
- It didn’t dissolve the crystal. Even when observed for long periods of time
nothing dissolved. And the crystals sinked into the bottom of the test
tube.

5. Describe the appearance of the material remaining at the bottom of the beaker.
Scrape off a small amount of it and dissolve in a 1-2 ml distilled water in test
tube. Add 1-2 drops of 5% BaCh solution. Observe and record the result.
- The particles hardened and it stayed in the bottom of the test tube. But the
crystals formed in the test tube were not as clear as the test tube with
barium chloride with tap water.

QUESTION:

1. What is sublimation?
- Sublimation is the transition of solid matter turned into a gas state. It mostly occurs
when a substance is at high temperature.
2. Why do substances undergo sublimation?
- Most compounds that undergo sublimation are due to high temperatures. They
absorb all of the heat to provide energy for molecules to overcome the attractive
forces of their neighbors and escape the vapor phase.
3. Which of the compounds in the mixture is the sublimate? Which compound did not sublime?
Based on the experiment conducted, what observations in the chemical reaction that proves
your answer?
 - In this experiment, salicylic acid is the sublimate here. And sodium sulfate did not sublime.
The residue or the crystals scraped from the test tube is the sodium sulfate.

4. Name other organic compounds that exhibit sublimation.

LICEO DE CAGAYAN
UNIVERSITY
Rodolfo N. Pelaez Boulevard, Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro
City
COLLEGE OF PHARMACY
- Naphthalene is well known for sublimation and they are used in most pesticides that
we use. Carbon dioxide is also capable of sublimation and we can observe that by
dry ice.

Flow Chart:
 LICEO DE CAGAYAN
UNIVERSITY Rodolfo N. Pelaez Boulevard,
Kauswagan, Cagayan de Oro City COLLEGE OF
PHARMACY