CHEM 120.

1 – ORGANIC CHEMISTRY (LABORATORY)

LABORATORY REPORT

Exercise No. 5
Recrystallization and Melting Point Determination

I. OBJECTIVES
1. To apply the method recrystallization in the purification of a solid substance.
2. To recognize melting point as a physical property that can be serve as an index of purity.
3. To determine melting point using a simple apparatus.
4. To compare the melting point of a pure sample with an impure sample of a substance.
Results Inference
The process of recrystallization is the most
A. Recrystallization common method used to separate solid material from solid
impurities. In this experiment we used the benzoic acid
Weight of impure sample = 1.02 g. to recrystallize.
Given that the weight of the filter paper with the
recrystallized benzoic acid was 2.2574 grams and the
Weight of filter paper = 1.3892 g. weight of the filter paper was 1.3892 grams, we will just
subtract the weight of the filter paper form the weight
of the filter paper with the recrystallized benzoic acid.
Weight of filter paper = 2.2574 g. Thus the weight of recrystallized benzoic acid is 0.8682
grams.
+ recrystallized benzoic acid
In this experiment the activated charcoal was added
to the solution to remove colored impurities. The
colored impurities adheres to the surface of the
Weight of recrystallized = The weight of the benzoic
activated charcoal.
benzoic acid acid was 0.8682 g. To avoid premature recrystallization the hot filtration
was performed. Also for the filtration, vacuum filtration
was performed using Buchner funnel. When doing gravity
filtration it used fluted filter paper because it
% recovery = 0.8682 grams x 100
maximizes the flow rate.
1.02 grams
Seeding the inner walls of the flask was done to
induce recrystallization.
= 0.851176. x 100 For the percent recovery of the benzoic acid was high
= 85.1176 % therefore the benzoic acid has mostly pure extract but
also has a little impurities.
The rate of the crystal growth affects on the
B. Melting Point Determination movement of recrystallization process. In fast crystal
growth, most impurities get caught in the interstices and
Melting point of the crystals = 122.3 °C has no way out. Thus this maybe the reason why the
recrystallized compound impure after recrystallization.
Thus we can conclude that the rate of crystal growth in
benzoic acid is low causing the
extract to be mostly pure.
 When it reaches to 122.3 °C, the crystals was fully
melted, the white solution turned into clear solution,
thus the crystals has melted. The melting point of the
organic compound can also be used to assess the purity
of the resulting crystals.