Introduction
Extraction is a valuable technique to use when withdrawing a desired substance from a mixture of chemical substances. As a rule, the top layer is less dense than the bottom layer. In this experiment, impurities such as chlorophyll, cellulose, and flavornoids are in the top aqueous layer and caffeine is the bottom organic layer. Caffeine is a known water-soluble compound, which makes it difficult to extract from chemical substances found in tealeaves. These chemical substances include, cellulose, an almost insoluble polymer of glucose, and tannins, phenolic compounds that may be used to hydrolyze glucose and gallic acid. The tannins are acidic and can be neutralized by sodium carbonate in order to make water-soluble salts. Caffeine only makes up roughly 5% of the tealeaves. The purpose of this experiment is to extract caffeine from tealeaves through solid-liquid extraction techniques while measuring the percent recovery and melting point temperature of the extracted caffeine. The percent recovery is calculated by the following formula, (end product weight in g)/ (starting weight) multiplied by 100.
Discussion…show more content… You need to talk in depth about your results, explain why, and discuss your observations. You should mention any color change or anything that seems relevant. Then, compare your results in the lab to the chemical literature source. Also, talk about why this is important and how the technique is useful. You should give at least one example of how this technique could be used in real world application. You also should talk about three ways to improve the lab. This should be at least three well thought out