Introduction:
Much of the chemistry dealt with in the laboratory concerns the synthesis of a new product or causing different reagents to react. There is also an important aspect of chemistry that deals with separating out substances, which is known as extraction. Acid-base extraction, which is a subcategory of solvent-solvent interaction, specifically deals with changing the pH of a solution to manipulate the solubility and cause the base or acid solute to dissolve into the aqueous layer. Furthermore, concerning solvent-solvent interaction, the solvents are insoluble in each other to cause a distinct separation, meaning that the two species do not mix together and form an immiscible layer. One is usually an aqueous solution that is water or exhibits properties like water such as hydrogen bonding, and the other is and organic solvent that display little to no polarity and Vander Waal forces at best. The discrepancy in polarity causes the separation of solvents, with the more dense solvent on the bottom of the container. In this experiment, this concept is implemented…show more content… The initial sample of the 1 to 1 mixture of both species massed out at 0.151g. After the two substances were extracted, separated form solvent and dried up into a solid precipitate, the naphthalene was 0.536g while the 4-nitroaniline was 0.046g. This translated to a percent recovery of 714% for the naphthalene and 61.3% for the 4-nitroaniline. The mass and recovery for the 4-nitroaniline coincided with what was expected, as 100% recovery is impossible to obtain. Evaporation of the substance and inability to collect all of the samples from a filter paper are just some reasons why 100% recovery is unrealistic. The naphthalene on the other hand was excessively high, due to the fact that the sample was not completely dried before the mass was