This experiment conflicts with Mad Physics traditional approach, we got too complicated. Actually, we only got complex in terms of set up; the chemistry behind this experiment is pretty basic. The reason we chose to do this though is we thought that if we used this “complicated equipment” we would familiarize our audience with it, and prove that the science behind it is simple. Take a look!
In this experiment we took household products—rubbing alcohol and vinegar—and we did some flashy organic chemistry! This experiment will familiarize you with laboratory terminology and organic chemistry terms. Don’t be afraid, this won’t hurt at all! Everything will be kept at a simple level, and this way you will be more comfortable talking in scientific language.
The experiment done here (as stated in the title) creates an ester; therefore, this is, technically speaking, an esterification reaction. To make the reaction go faster we added a strong acid (sulfuric acid), the only other things in the mix were alcohol and vinegar. The methods will detail how we did what, and what it all means. Here is a picture of our setup:
Fancy, no? To understand better what everything in the picture represents, keep on reading.
Follow the numbers in the diagram (bottom right to bottom left) to see what is happening:
1. The experiment begins with the reactants, vinegar and rubbing alcohol. The vinegar is placed in a 500mL flask in an excess of rubbing alcohol. Speaking in chemistry terms, our reactants are acetic acid (vinegar) and ethanol (rubbing alcohol). The equation for these reactants is: H3C-COOH + HO-CH2-CH (along with two drops of sulfuric acid).
The reactants are heated with a Bunsen until they boil. Take a look at the video below:
2. They vapor then rise up a distillation column. This column separates vapors based on their pressures. Some of the vapors condense and go back down into the flask. The rest of the separated gases continue rising. Notice the video of the droplets forming inside:
3. The vapors are now led up through a connector piece, which feeds, into the condenser.
4. The condenser is a tube within a tube. The inner tube will allow the vapors to pass; however, the condenser has a water jacket (i.e. water passes around the outside). This enables the gases to get cooled, and turn back into liquids. Notice the video of water passing through the condenser:
5. The liquid now passes though the connector tube, and fall into the flask. Notice the droplet here:
6. The liquid collected in the flask should be ethyl acetate. In reality the products created by the reaction are ethyl acetate and water. Therefore the products are: H3C-COO-CH2-CH3 + H2O and the full process is:
H3C-COOH + HO-CH2-CH3 ⇔ H3C-COO-CH2-CH3 + H2O
To check to see if you do in fact have an ester, smell your products! They should smell sweet.
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Family, Afrooz. “Esterification Reactions.” December 05, 2005 Mad Physics. dd mmm. yyyy †
<http://www.madphysics.com/exp/esterification_reactions.htm">
We are glad to share our knowledge with you as long as you cite all of our info, and contact us before you use anything for non-educational purposes (commercial, etc.).
† In the bibliography you must insert the day you visited the site (this is relevant because the site could change at some point), therefore, in the bibliography above replace dd with the day you visited, mmm with the abreviated month, and yyyy with the year (ex: dd mmm. yyyy becomes 23 Dec. 2004).
