NotesFAQContact Us
Collection
Advanced
Search Tips
Back to results
Peer reviewed Peer reviewed
Direct linkDirect link
ERIC Number: EJ921266
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Dec
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Salting Effects as an Illustration of the Relative Strength of Intermolecular Forces
Person, Eric C.; Golden, Donnie R.; Royce, Brenda R.
Journal of Chemical Education, v87 n12 p1332-1335 Dec 2010
This quick and inexpensive demonstration of the salting of an alcohol out of an aqueous solution illustrates the impact of intermolecular forces on solubility using materials familiar to many students. Ammonium sulfate (fertilizer) is added to an aqueous 35% solution of isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol and water) containing food coloring as a visualizing agent. A colored alcohol layer will form above the colorless aqueous layer in 10-20s showing that the ion-dipole interactions between the ammonium sulfate and water are stronger than the hydrogen bonds between isopropyl alcohol and water. Adding water to this two-layer mixture will restore the solution to a single layer, as there is sufficient solvent to dissolve both the ammonium sulfate and isopropyl alcohol. This demonstration is an illustration of intermolecular forces and solubility appropriate for high school and general chemistry courses. (Contains 4 figures.)
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A