The Freezing Point Depression: The Freezing Point Of P-Xylene

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The freezing point of p-xylene was calculated as 13.29C after averaging the data that appeared on Graph 1 once the temperature leveled off. With this value, the Tf for each trial was able to be calculated through Equation 1, which led to Kf being calculated in Equation 2. Both equations were able to be used given that the measurements were in terms of molality, which is not temperature dependent. After completing calculations, the average Kf of the three trials of the p-xylene and toluene solution was computed as as 4.56(C/m) as shown in Table 1, however, the theoretical value was slightly lower than calculated, 4.3(C/m). This resulted in a 6.04% error as shown in Equation 5. Possible causes of error could have resulted from adding too much …show more content…

Given the 6.04% error resulting from Kf, the calculated results were not consistent with what was expected, however, with the theoretical Kf value the results were as predicted. Potential sources of this higher Kf could have resulted from combining too much or too little solvent or solute, which would potentially raise the Kf, or contamination of the substances would impact the intermolecular forces at play. If this lab were repeated, assuring the measurements of the solute and solvent were accurate would provide more exact results, given that freezing point depression is a colligative property. Another potential way to receive a more accurate Kf would include more trials to have an average closer to the theoretical value. The freezing point depression lab centralized on quantitatively finding freezing points and freezing point depression, as well as using calculations to determine Kf and the molar masses of unknown substances. Freezing point depression describes the decrease that appears in the temperature at which a solvent freeze’s when a solute is dissolved in it. Given that the nature of a substance dictates physical properties, a pure substance is expected to have a constant freezing point at a fixed pressure. However, when another substance is added to create a homogenous mixture, …show more content…

The mass of 2mL of the solvent, p-xylene, was measured as well as the mass of 10 drops of toluene, the solute. The temperature of the solution rose to the freezing point after supercooling, then continued to drop as the solution froze, versus stabilizing as the pure p-xylene did. The maximum temperature obtained after supercooling was recorded as the freezing point of the solution. This process was repeated three times, each with a new test tube and the same beaker and scale for measuring the masses, then the Tf was calculated for each trial, as well as the average Kf. For the final portion of the lab, the same procedure as above was followed with the substation of 10 drops of unknown solutes instead of toluene in the p-xylene. Each unknown, A, C, and D, had one trial each. With the experimentally gathered data, the molar masses were then computed and compared to the given compound molar masses to

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