Bp 249 C(lit.

) mp Sublimat ion is the process by which a subst anc e underg oes conver s ion f ro m thesolidp h a s e t o t h e gasphase, without going through theliquidphase.In this phenomenon, the transition fromt he solid t o t he g aseous st at e r equir es a n i n t e r m e d i a t e l i q u i d s t a t e Sublimation is helpful in purifying somesolids likementhol, naphthalene, iodine,etc. [2]. Sublimation is a technique usedbychemiststo purifycompounds.Under t h i s r e d u c e d pressure, t h e s o l i d volat ilizes and condenses as a pur if iedc o m p o u n d o n a c o o l e d s u r f a c e . O n c e heating ceases, the purified compoundm a y b e c o l l e c t e d f r o m t h e c o o l i n g surface which has a non-volatile residue of im pur it ies behind [ 1]. Benzoic acidwas f ir st obt ained by sublim at ion f romg u m b e n z o i n . T h i s i s a l s o k n o w n a s flowers of benzoin [3].Benzoic acid init s basic f orm is called im pur e benzoic acid. The impurities that are in the newlyformed benzene are because of phenyla n d b e n z y l c o m p o u n d s t h a t seriouslya f f e c t t h e p r o d u c t . T h e i m p u r i t i e s contain amin o c o m p o u n d s t h a t a r e present in a larger extent inside impurebenzene [4]. A pure benzoic acid can beo b t a i n e d f r o m r e c r y s t a l l i z a t i o n a n d sublimat ion but in t his t est, well f ocus on sublimation Percentage recovery: weight of sublimateweight of impurebenzoic acid100%0.3938g5g100%=7.88% 121-125 C(lit.) Melting point of benzoicacid In the experiment perf o rmed, thesublimate is f o r m e d a t t h e c o o l i n g sur face (inverted face) of the watchglass after heating f or about 101 5 m inut es. The sublim at e weig hed about 0. 3938g and a percent age r ecover y of 7.88% was obtained from the ratio of theweig ht of the sublim at e and the weig hto f t h e i m p u r e b e n z o i c a c i d t h e n multiplying it by 100%. The melting pointo f t h e s u b l i m a t e a s w e l l a s t h e p u r e benzoic acid that h a s b e e n o b t a i n e d based on the experiment is 130C This means that when 5g of be nzoica c i d i s s u b j e c t e d t o t h e p r o c e s s sublimation, 0.3938g of sublimate will beobtained and its percentage recover yshows that 7.88% of the pure substanceis produced from the starting material.The melting point determination dictatedt h a t t h e s u b l i m a t e o b t a i n e d is a pures u b s t a n c e h a v i n g t h e s a m e m e l t i n g point with the stan d a r d p u r e b e n z o i c acid which is 130C. Benzoic acid occurs naturally in many plants and resins. It is the simplest aromatic carboxylic acid containing a carboxyl group bonded directly to the benzene ring. It is only slightly soluble in water and forms clear white crystals with a pure melting temperature above 120C. Used to separate volatile organic compounds from non volatile impurities e.g. Naphthalene, benzoic acid, anthracene, camphor.