CHM258

FUNDAMENTAL OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY

LABORATORY REPORT

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT : SIMPLE DISTILLATION

EXPERIMENT NO. :5
NAME(S) AND : 1) ALI IMRAAN BIN ABDUL RAMAN (2021612886)
STUDENT ID 2) WAN AMIR BIN ABDULLAH (2021202886)
3) NOORAKMAL BIN ZAIDI (2021605696)

4) MUHAMMAD AMIRUL FITRI BIN AB RAZAK (2021496688)

GROUP : A4AS1203_3

DATE : 7/12/2022
LECTURER : MADAM ROSMAWATI BINTI ABDUL AZIZ
OBJECTIVES
1) To determine the percentage of ethanol in commercial mouthwashes.
PROCEDURE
1) 20.0 mL of commercial mouthwashes was measured and weighed out using pipette. The
sample were immediately covered with a piece of aluminum foil.
2) The mouthwash was dispensed into the distilling flask. Marble chip was added to the
flask.
3) A simple distillation apparatus was set up as in figure 3 below.

4) The thermometer bulb was positioned just below the “Y” of the distilling head.
5) The water hoses were connected to the condenser with water “in” at the bottom and
draining “out” to the sink at the top end of the condenser.
6) The water as well as the heating mantle was turned on carefully.
7) The thermometer temperature was monitored as the distillate drips into the collection
flask.
8) The heating mantle was turned off when the temperature was rose above 79°C. The
collection flask was removed and replaced with the second clean flask.
9) 50 mL clean beaker weighted, and the weight recorded. The collected distillate was
dispensed into the pre-weighed beaker and the weight of the distillate was weighed again.
10) Data obtained from the experiment was recorded.

RESULTS
 Mass of distillation flask 61.6925 g
Mass of distillation flask + commercial 82.0775 g
mouthwash (20mL)
Mass of commercial mouthwash 21.015 g
Mass of receiving flask 41.6625 g
Mass of receiving flask + distillate 42.6716 g
Mass of the distillate 0.6391 g

DATA ANALYSIS
Calculate the percent recovery of ethanol from the total volume of mouthwash distilled. Show
your calculation.
0.6391
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦  =  𝑋 100%
21.015
=  3.0412%

DISCUSSION
Distillation is a common technique for separating mixtures based on the circumstances needed to
alter the phase of the mixture's components is distillation. A combination of liquids can be
separated by heating it to drive the differing boiling point constituents into the gas phase. The
gas is then recovered after being recondensed into liquid form. In simple distillation, the most
volatile component of a combination is heated to transform it from a liquid to a vapor. As it rises,
the vapors enter a condenser. The condenser is often chilled to encourage condensation of the
vapors that is collected.

Ethanol is an ethyl alcohol, and it is a colorless and flammable liquid that has a pungent taste. It
is usually found in mouthwash, alcoholic beverages, lotions, colognes or in common
pharmaceutical and cosmetic products. The structure of ethanol can be seen as:
Ethanol can also be produced from fermentation process such as in fermentation in yeast. The
function of ethanol in mouthwash is because alcohol is efficient at killing bacteria in the mouth.
Alcohol can fasten the process of denaturation in bacteria. This occurs because alcohol
molecules can break down the proteins present in the structure of bacteria. When the proteins
break down and lose their structure, the cells can’t function properly. The bacteria will lose their
membrane protection, dehydrate, and quickly die. As a result, our mouth will be clean of these
germs.

There are a few factors that may affect from receiving a high amount of precent recovery of
ethanol from the distillation of the commercial mouthwash that was used in this experiment.
Firstly, make sure there is no leak in the setup. This is to prevent the vapor to escape through the
openings between the joints and result in less amount of ethanol that will be obtained. Therefore,
the joints must be tightened by the help of grease to make sure that it is sealed properly and get
the maximum amount of ethanol. Besides that, when distilling too fast, it may also affect the
amount of ethanol. The components require time to separate. If it is supplied with too much heat,
it will allow even the less volatile components enough energy to keep evaporating. The vapor
phase is therefore not enriched with the more volatile component which is ethanol.

QUESTIONS
1) Compare the percent recovery of ethanol with other group obtained from the distillation
of mouthwash. Discuss.
The precent recovery of ethanol obtained from the distillation of mouthwash is lower
than the other group which the other group obtained 4.05%. This means that the other
group recovered a higher amount of ethanol recovered from the distillation process.
Some of the factors that may affect a lower percentage recovery is when there is a leak in
the setup. This will allow the vapor to escape through the openings between the joints and
result in less amount of ethanol that will be obtained. Therefore, it is important to keep all
joints sealed properly.

2) Briefly explain the function of condenser in this experimental setup.

The function of the condenser.
The function of condenser is to cool down vapors and condensing them back to liquid
droplets that flow down the condenser into the receiver flask.

CONCLUSION
As a conclusion, ethanol can be obtained from mouthwash from using the simple distillation
process and the percentage of recovery of ethanol obtained from the distillation of the
commercial mouthwash is 3.0412%.

CITATION AND REFERENCES

1) Distillation Part 1 (Laboratory Manual). (n.d.). Distillation Part 1 (Laboratory Manual).
Retrieved December 4, 2022, from http://what-when-how.com/organic-chemistry-
laboratory-survival-manual/distillation-part-1-laboratory-manual/
2) 2.2: Distillation. (2019, February 10). Chemistry LibreTexts. Retrieved December 5, 2022, from
https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Organic_Chemistry/Book%3A_How_to_be_a_Successfu
l_Organic_Chemist_(Sandtorv)/02%3A_COMMON_ORGANIC_CHEMISTRY_LABORATOR
Y_TECHNIQUES/2.02%3A_Distillation
3) Stain. (2022, November 1). What Are the Dangers of Drinking Mouthwash? | Laguna
Hospital. Laguna Treatment Hospital. Retrieved December 19, 2022, from
https://lagunatreatment.com/alcohol-abuse/drinking-mouthwash/
4) Mohd Azhar. (2017, March 6). Yeasts in sustainable bioethanol production: A review -
PubMed. PubMed. Retrieved December 19, 2022, from
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29114570/