Suggest what would be the result if we heated a mixture of dichloromethane and naphthalene to 60 degrees Celcius, collected distillate until no further material distilled, and then cooled the flask back to room temperature.
Heating a mixture of dichloromethane and naphthalene to 60 degrees Celsius and then collecting distillate refers to a process known as distillation. Let's break down the steps and explain what would happen in each step:
1. Heating the mixture: When the mixture of dichloromethane and naphthalene is heated, the boiling points of the two compounds come into play. Naphthalene has a boiling point of around 218 degrees Celsius, while dichloromethane boils at a much lower temperature, around 40 degrees Celsius. Therefore, in this case, dichloromethane would vaporize and begin to boil off before naphthalene.
2. Collecting distillate: As the mixture is heated, dichloromethane will evaporate and rise in the distillation setup. The vapor will then condense and collect as a liquid in a separate container. Since dichloromethane has a lower boiling point than naphthalene, it will be the primary component in the distillate.
3. No further material distill: Eventually, after collecting a certain volume of distillate, there will come a point where no more material, or very little, will be distilled. This occurs when most of the dichloromethane has been evaporated, and the remaining liquid contains primarily naphthalene. Naphthalene, with its higher boiling point, will not readily vaporize at the temperature of 60 degrees Celsius.
4. Cooling the flask to room temperature: After the distillate has been collected, the flask containing the remaining liquid, mostly naphthalene, is cooled back to room temperature. As the flask cools, the naphthalene will solidify, as its melting point is approximately 80 degrees Celsius. It will become a crystalline solid within the flask.
In summary, by heating the mixture of dichloromethane and naphthalene, you will selectively vaporize and collect mostly dichloromethane as the distillate. The remaining liquid will mainly consist of naphthalene, which will solidify upon cooling.