Chemical Analysis Flashcards
What is a pure substance?
A single compound or a substance made of a single element, that is not mixed with any other.
What are some qualities of pure substance?
- Have specific boiling points,
- Have specific melting points
What does the graph of a pure substance look like and why?
- When you melt a pure substance (solid), the temperature will increases until the entire substance is a liquid,
- There will then be a flat area on a graph, where the temperature does not change for a while because a pure substance has a fixed melting point,
- Then the graph will start to increase (temp) again as the liquid becomes a vapour,
- When the liquid is fully vaporised the temperature increase will stop and another straight section on the graph will appear, this is the fixed boiling point of the substance.
How does the graph of an impurity differ from a pure substances graph?
The impure substances graph has multiple changes in the rate temperature increase because there are lots of different substances that have different melting and boiling points s the graph pauses in lots of places.
What is a formulation?
- A complex mixture that has been designed as a useful product.
- In a formulation the quantities of each substance is carefully measured so that the product has the properties we need.
What are some examples of formulation?
- Fuel,
- Cleaning products,
- Paints,
- Medicines,
- Alloys,
- Fertilisers,
- Food.
What are the 5 ways to separate mixtures?
- Filtration,
- Crystallisation,
- Simple distillation
- Fractional distillation,
- Chromatography.
What type of process is paper chromatography?
- Physical,
- This means that no chemical reactions happen and no new substances are made.
Why does chromatography work?
Some substances are more soluble than others, so the ink will seperate as the substances move up further than others within the mixture.
What are the names of the 2 phases in paper chromatography and where do they occur?
- The paper is called the stationary phase because it does not move,
- The solvent is called the mobile phase because it does move.
Why do substances separate in chromatography?
- Each chemical in the mixture will be attracted to the stationary phase (the paper), but to different extents,
- Chemicals with a strong attraction wont move up the paper much,
- But chemicals with a weak attraction will move up further,
- This separates the mixture into different substances, as they all have different. strengths of attraction to the stationary phase.
What happens when a different solvent is used with the same mixture in paper chromatography?
- Their will be the same colours/ spots but the position of the spot on the paper will change.
Why do we draw a starting line in pencil?
If we drew it in pen, the pen ink would move up the paper with the solvent and make the results invalid.
How do you use paper chromatography to identify an unknown substance in a mixture?
- First draw a horizontal pencil line, 2cm from the bottom of the paper
- Then put 5 dots (using the pencil) on this pencil line, each 1cm apart from each other,
- Next use a capillary tube (a very thin glass tube) to place the 4 known colours and the 1 unknown colour onto the pots,
- These spots must be incredibly small so the inks don’t mix,
- Now pour a solvent into a beaker with 1cm depth,
- Attach the top of the paper to a glass rod using tape and balance the rod on the beaker,
- The paper should dip into the solvent,
- The solvent should move up the paper and the colours will be carried up,
- remove the paper when the solvent has travelled 3/4 up,
- Use a pencil to mark where the solvent got up to and leave the paper out to dry,
- You should see that the unknown mixture has separated into its inks, these may line up with other spots from the known substances and therefore, be the same substance.
What are some cautions that you must take when doing a paper chromatography practical?
- The pencil line must be above the solvent so the ink is not washed off the line/paper,
- The sides of the paper must also not touch the sides of the beaker because it can interrupt the solvent movement,
- Put a lid on the beaker to reduce evaporation of the solvent.
- You should try not to touch the beaker so that none of the inks make contact when the solvent moves up the paper.