Final answer:
The lab report on recrystallization of naphthalene serves to instruct students on the purification method known as recrystallization, used to separate a pure compound from its impurities by exploiting its temperature-dependent solubility.
Step-by-step explanation:
Purpose of the Lab Report on Recrystallization of Naphthalene
The purpose of the lab report on recrystallization of naphthalene is to demonstrate how to purify a compound to remove impurities through the process called recrystallization. This lab exercise aims to illustrate the principle that a compound's solubility in a solvent varies with temperature, thereby enabling the separation of the desired product from contaminants. In the experiment, naphthalene is dissolved in a hot solvent and then allowed to cool, which decreases its solubility, resulting in the crystallization of pure naphthalene while leaving impurities dissolved in the solution. Students can then evaluate the success of this purification method by observing the physical properties of the recrystallized product and confirming them against the theoretical expectations, for example, determining the empirical formula of naphthalene (C5H4) through calculations based on the masses of the combustion products CO₂ and H₂O.