DISTILLATION
LAB
Purpose: The purpose of this lab is to identify the alcohol in the
unknown mixture through distillation and property testing.
Hypothesis: If my unknown mixture has properties matching that of
ethyl alcohol, the unknown mixture must be ethyl alcohol.
Day #1 Materials:
 Goggles
 Graduated Cylinder
 Pipette
 Isopropyl Alcohol
 Ethyl Alcohol
 Methyl Alcohol
 Water
 Unknown mixture
 Scale
 Lighter
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Calculator
Pencil
Lab Sheet
Day #1 Procedures:
1. Gather day #1 materials.
2. Put on goggles
3. Measure weight of graduated cylinder and record in table 2.
4. Put 5mL of water in graduated cylinder.
5. Record weight of water in cylinder in table 2.
6. Record physical properties of water in table 1.
7. Calculate density of water and record in table 1 and 2.
8. Repeat steps 4-7 for ethyl, isopropyl, and methyl.
9. Get unknown mixture #5 from teacher.
10. Record number of mixture.
11. Repeat steps 3-7 for unknown mixture.
12. Record observations in table 3 trial 1.
Hypothesis: If the mixture when separated has 4mL and 6 mL alcohol,
then it must have 40% water and 60% alcohol.
Day #2 Materials:
 Goggles
 Graduated Cylinder
 Pipette
 Unknown mixture
 Scale
 Lighter
 Calculator
 Pencil
 Lab Sheet
 Hot plate
 2 Test tubes
 2 Beakers
 Ice
 Distillation tubes
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Thermometer
Clock
Boiling Stones
Day #2 Procedure:
1. Gather day 2 materials.
2. Put on goggles
3. Put 10mL of unknown mixture in graduated cylinder.
4. Put boiling stones in one test tube with mixture.
5. Put distillation tubes in the test tube.
6. Put water in a beaker with test tube with the mixture.
7. Put the beaker on a hotplate with dial turned to 6 or 7.
8. Fill other beaker with ice and other test tube.
9. Place other end of distillation tube in empty test tube.
10. Record temperature every 30 seconds.
11. Record boiling temperature as the temperature it sits on the
longest.
12. When temperature rises above boiling point of all know
chemicals, distillation is done
13. Test fraction 1 (alcohol) and fraction 2 (water) for physical
properties in table 3 trial 1.
14. Repeat steps 1-13 on day 3. Record in table 3 trial 2.
Analysis:
My unknown mixture had the properties of the ethyl alcohol. It
was flammable, had mild odor, a density of .78, and it’s boiling
point was 78 degrees celcius. My hypothesis was that the mixture
was ethyl, and the seperated mix had the same properties as ethyl.
The mixture was 70% water and 25% alcohol.
Conclusion:
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the identity of
the alcohol in the unknown mixture through distillation and
property testing. My hypothesis was if the mixture when seperated
has 4 mL water and 6 mL alcohol, then it must have 60% water and
40% alcohol. My hypothesis was proven right because the alcohol
had the same properties as ethyl alcohol, but there was 70% water
and 25% alcohol. To make the lab better I would make the mixture
have another alcohol of a much lower boiling point, and then
separate it from the mix again. Some errors could have been made
when pouring the mix back and fourth. Some liquid could have
been left in the beaker or spilled on the table.