Separation of Ethanol and Water with Salt

[andrew111122223333]

Reflection!

[cochoqtpartelamadre]

guys.. i am not a chemist but magnesium sulfate should take more water than potassium carbonate. If I am right what a moron chemist if not, my apologies

[sieveb1]

@cochoqtpartelamadre I am not sure what you are saying here. If you mean that it will take more potassium carbonate to separate the layers I am not sure how you would simply reason this based simply on the compound. It may be possible but I am not aware of a way

[justonlyweb]

Separation is spelled with and "a" - to remember, as I always tell my students, note that separation has a rat in it.

[mrericsully]

I heard an explanation of "salting out" dealing with the fact that water is polar,salt is ionic, and alcohol is mostly nonpolar [it has a polar segment, but the molecule as a whole is nonpolar].

Because of the slight polarity alcohol can mix with water, but then when the ionic salt is added it displaces the nonpolar alcohol. From there they become immiscible and separate by their densities [although water is more dense than alcohol before the salt makes it even denser].

[sieveb1]

@mrericsully this is a better explanation then mine when I look back at mine. Thank you for posting. Yes they both are important as you described.

[sieveb1]

@TheMiddleChemist that is actually why I left that part in the video. Sometimes (often) things don't always work smoothly as you think they will

[aCagedApe]

Would this work with sodium carbonate? 

[sieveb1]

@aCagedApe I don't see why it would not as it is based on the density so as long as it dissolves in the water it should work.

[aCagedApe]

@sieveb1 does the alcohol absorb it too?

[sieveb1]

@aCagedApe since the salt is polar and ionic it will largely go into the water over the alcohol, though some will go into both

[aCagedApe]

@sieveb1 so the salt molecules rip the connection between the ethanol and water appart and then surround the water molecule and then connect to each other?

[sieveb1]

@aCagedApe look up at mrericsully's response for a better answer than I first posted. His/hers is much clearer than my attempt.

[Ibogaine306]

@aCagedApe Not really..



[aCagedApe]

@Ibogaine306 ur not smart

[Ibogaine306]

@aCagedApe lol you got owned again 6 months later. Guess you're not so smart either, huh?