Comparing the Degree of Unsaturation of Olive Oil and that of Margarine

Date: 22/01/17

Hypothesis: The degree of unsaturation in olive oil and margarine plays a role in the health
consequences of using these products.

Aim: To discover which is more saturated, margarine or olive oil.

Chemical Principles: Fatty acids comprise a long carbon chain with a carboxylic acid group at
the end. They are a class of biologically significant organic chemicals and the foundation of all
fats and oils. Fatty acids can be categorised as saturated or unsaturated fatty acids. Unsaturated
fatty acids have at least one double bond in their carbon chain, while saturated fatty acids do not.
This double bond typically disrupts the dispersion forces between fatty acids, giving unsaturated
fatty acids a lower melting point. Unsaturated fatty acids in the oils and fats will decolourise
bromine water. The reaction is quantitative, 1 mole of C=C bonds will react with 1 mole of
bromine, Br2, and will be indicated during titration.

Apparatus & Materials:

Conical flask 0.02M Bromine water
Dropping pipette Margarine
Measuring cylinder Olive Oil
Burette Bunsen burner
Clamp and stand Scale
White tile Beakers
Water Bath Volasil

Procedure:

1. Set up a water bath and melt some margarine in a beaker.

2. Weigh 0.5g of the margarine carefully in a conical flask. Add 25 cm3 of volasil, shaking
the flask to dissolve the margarine.
3. Fill the burette with the bromine water in the fume hood. Bring the burette back to the
burette stand.
4. Titrate the margarine with the bromine water making sure to shake the flask vigorously
while titrating.
5. The end point occurs when the fat fails to decolorize the bromine water, leaving a pale
brown colour even after vigorous shaking.
6. Repeat this until three consecutive results are obtained.
7. Repeat the entire procedure for olive oil.

Manipulated Variables:
Bromine Water

Controlled Variables:
Margarine & olive oil
Responding variable:
Amount of decolourised bromine water

Data Collection:

Burette Readings (cm3) 1 2 3

Final Volume
Initial Volume
Volume Used
A TABLE SHOWING THE RESULTS OF THE TITRATION WITH MARGARINE AND
BROMINE WATER

Burette Readings (cm3) 1 2 3

Final Volume
Initial Volume
Volume Used
A TABLE SHOWING THE RESULTS OF THE TITRATION WITH OLIVE OIL AND
BROMINE WATER

Expected Results:

The margarine would be more saturated than the olive oil, as the bromine water would be
decolourised easier with the olive oil.

Data Treatment:

Determine the average volume used for both experiments and the number of moles of the
margarine and olive oil used:

Data Analysis:
The compound which