Dela Cruz, John Carlo F.; Tulod, Jhune Karryl M.

Experiment 4: Distribution
Table 1: Experimental Data on the Titration of HOAc-Water and Hoac- Tert-butyl methyl ether
solutions with NaOH
1.0 M HOAc
M of
M of
Solvent
Trial
Vol of NaOH (mL)
NaOH
Vol of soln (mL)
soln
1
7.8
0.50480
5.0
0.787488
Water
2
7.4
0.50480
5.0
0.747104
Average
0.767296
Tert1
48.5
0.08998
10.0
0.436403
butyl
2
49.4
0.08998
10.0
0.444501
methyl
ether Average
0.440452
0.25 M HOAc
M of
M of
Solvent
Trial
Vol of NaOH (mL)
NaOH
Vol of soln (mL)
soln
1
2.1
0.50485
5.0
0.212037
Water
2
2.2
0.50485
5.0
0.222134
Average
0.217086
Tert1
12.9
0.08998
10.0
0.116074
butyl
2
12.7
0.08998
10.0
0.114275
methyl
ether Average
0.115174
0.5 M HOAc
M of
M of
Solvent
Trial
Vol of NaOH (mL)
NaOH
Vol of soln (mL)
soln
1
6.8
0.50485
10.0
0.343299
Water
2
6.7
0.50485
10.0
0.338250
Average
0.340774
Tert1
18.3
0.08998
10.0
0.164663
butyl
2
20.6
0.08998
10.0
0.185359
methyl
ether Average
0.175011
Table 2: Logarithmic Values of C1 and C2

log(C2)
log(C1)
-0.11504 -0.3561
-0.46753 -0.75693
-0.66337 -0.93864

Graph 1: Graph of Distribution of HOAc in Aqueous and Tert-butyl methyl ether Solutions

0.25 - 1.0
-0.6

-0.5

log(C1)

-0.7

-0.4

-0.3

-0.2

-0.1

y = 1.0713x - 0.239
R = 0.9975

log(C2)

Computations:
Calculation of Concentrations (C1 and C2):

Where M1 is the standardized concentration of NaOH

V1 is the volume of NaOH solution used in titration (titrant)
V2 is the volume of the HOAc solution (analyte; V2 is constant at 5mL).
(

)(
(

Calculation of K and n using Linear Regression

in the form y = mx+b.

where y = logC1 , m = n , x = logC2 and b = -logK

Equation of the Line for 0.25 M 1.00 M:

0
-0.1 0
-0.2
-0.3
-0.4
-0.5
-0.6
-0.7
-0.8
-0.9
-1

Discussion
When two immiscible liquids are mixed, two liquid layers will be observed. For the mixture
of water and most organic liquids, these two layers would be the aqueous layer and the organic
layer. These layers would draw different substances based on their solubility, with the aqueous layer
drawing the polar molecules and the organic layer drawing the less polar molecules. Products can
then be extracted from the two layers. This technique is called liquid-liquid extraction.
In liquid-liquid extraction, the measure of the distribution of the solute into the aqueous
and organic phases is governed by the distribution coefficient which can be calculated from the
Nernst Distribution Law:
K = aB/aA
which for dilute solutions can be rewritten as:
K= CB/CA
where K is the distribution constant, CB is the concentration of the solute in the aqueous layer and CA
is the concentration of the solute in the organic layer.
In the experiment, water and tert-butyl methyl ether are used for the liquid-liquid
extraction and acetic acid is used as the solute. Acetic acid dissolves in both aqueous and organic
layers. The Nernst Distribution Law should then be changed to account for the activity of the same
species present in both layers giving:
K= CBn/CA
where K is the distribution constant, CB is the concentration of the solute in the aqueous layer, CA is
the concentration of the solute in the organic layer and n is the ratio of the average molecular
weight of the solute in solvent A to that in solvent B. Since acetic acid is a weak acid, it will dissociate
into CH 3COOand H 3O+ when dissolved in water. It decreases the average molecular weight of acetic
acid in water and should give an n value that is greater than 1. Tert-butyl methyl ether is also a good
extraction agent (Miao et.al,2007) which reinforces this prediction. The experimental results show
an n value of 1.0713 which is greater than 1, implying that acetic acid did indeed dissociate in the
aqueous layer. Errors in the data may be attributed to incomplete separation of the layers.
Miscalculations of concentrations as well as inaccurate measuring of volumes from the serial dilution
to the titration process may also be a source of error since the total acetic acid concentration
obtained (water plus tert-butyl methyl ether) is greater than the initial amount added for all
concentrations of acetic acid (for the 1M HOAc for example, 1.2M >1M).

References:
Miao, X., Zhang, H., Wang, T., & He, M. (2007). LiquidLiquid Equilibria of the Ternary System Water+
Acetic Acid + Methyl tert Butyl Ether. Retrieved from
http://pubs.acs.org.scihub.org/doi/abs/10.1021/je060409p
http://www.mendelset.com/articles/685/extraction_and_determination_distribution_coefficient_k
d
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/3235/acetic-acid-CH3COOH
http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/elmat_en/kap_2/backbone/r2_4_3.html