Question

If you had chosen petroleum ether instead of your solvent, what would happen? Would there have been a change in your results if activated carbon was not added to the solution before recrystallization?

Answer 1

If petroleum ether was chosen instead of the solvent in recrystallization, it would dissolve nonpolar compounds more effectively. The addition of activated carbon before recrystallization helps remove impurities, so the results could be different without it.

Step-by-step explanation:

If petroleum ether was chosen instead of the solvent in recrystallization, it would depend on the specific compound being recrystallized. Petroleum ether is a nonpolar solvent, so it would generally dissolve nonpolar compounds more effectively than polar solvents like water. However, for polar compounds, petroleum ether may not dissolve them well, resulting in poor recrystallization.

Regarding the addition of activated carbon before recrystallization, activated carbon is commonly used to remove impurities and colored substances from solutions. If activated carbon was not added, the solution may contain more impurities, which could affect the purity of the recrystallized compound. Therefore, the results could be different without the addition of activated carbon.