ERIC Number: EJ1205726
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Feb
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
Use of Simplified Surface Tension Measurements to Determine Surface Excess: An Undergraduate Experiment
Gascon, Katherine N.; Weinstein, Steven J.; Antoniades, Michael G.
Journal of Chemical Education, v96 n2 p342-347 Feb 2019
The effect of surfactant adsorption on surface tension, as well as associated thermodynamic concepts are introduced in a laboratory experiment designed for undergraduate students. Using a reliable and accessible method, students measure the surface tension of aqueous solutions at different concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfate. Students collect data to estimate the critical micelle concentration and quantitatively determine the maximum surface excess using the Gibbs adsorption equation. Students subsequently determine the surface area per molecule of this surfactant at the liquid-air interface and learn how to generate adsorption isotherm curves.
Descriptors: Science Instruction, Thermodynamics, Scientific Concepts, Science Laboratories, Science Experiments, Laboratory Experiments, College Science, Undergraduate Students, Molecular Structure, Measurement, Chemistry
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: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A