§ KMnO + water = Soluble in water.

At the surface of the ionic solid, molecules of the solvent

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interact with the potassium and permanganate ions. The positive hydrogen end is oriented
towards the permanganate ions, white the negative oxygen end of water dipole is oriented
towards the positively-charged potassium ions. As the ions interact with water molecules, they
are drawn from the surface, surrounded by solvent, and move independently.
Observations: a dense purple solution forms in water at base of the beaker. The purple solution
spreads into the rest fo the awter throughout the beaker creating a less dense but evenly
colored purple solution

§ Pet ether vs water - the difference between the electronegativities of the hydrogen and
oxygen atoms in water is much larger than C--O bond in pet ether and the H--O bonds in this
molecule are therefore polar. Water molecules have a bent, or angular shape therefore water
molecules have distinct positive and negative poles. Water is therefore classified as a polar
solvent. Petroleum on the other hand is one of the most used nonpolar organic compounds.

§ Pet ether + acetic acid (soluble)

§ Pet ether + benzoic acid (soluble)
§ Pet ether + Sodium benzoate (insoluble)
§ Pet ether + Cyclohexanol (soluble)
§ Pet ether + Dextrose (insoluble)
§ Pet ether + Cellulose (insoluble)
§ Water + acetic acid (soluble) – CH COOH is a carXboxylic acid with high polarity. It’s also
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soluble in nonpolar solvents.

§ Water + benzoic acid (partial)
§ Water + Sodium benzoate (soluble)
§ Water + Cyclohexanol (insoluble)
§ Water + Dextrose (soluble)
§ Water + Cellulose (insoluble)
§

VI. Discussion
In the preliminary observations on the dissolution process shown in Table 1.1, it was
observed how the KMnO dark crystals initially formed a dense violet solution in water at the
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base of the test tube. The violet solution then slowly spread throughout the liquid forming a less
dense violet solution, but swirling the test tube sped up this process and eventually forming a
homogenous solution. This is the result of the water molecules, potassium cations and
permanganate anions interaction with each other in which the negative oxygen end of water
dipole is oriented towards the positively-charged potassium ions, while the positive hydrogen
end is oriented towards the permanganate ions. During the dissolution, the particles of the
solvent surround the solute particles, moving them away from the surface and throughout the
liquid.
Table 1.2 contains the different organic compounds, substances that contain carbon,
used to test the solubility in organic solvent (petroleum ether) at room temperature. A total of six
organic compounds namely acetic acid, benzoic acid, sodium benzoate in set A, cyclohexanol,
dextrose, and cellulose (cotton fiber) in set B, and one organic solvent, petroleum ether, were
listed with their appearance, color, and odor. Petroleum ether, a clear colorless solution, is one
of the most used nonpolar organic compounds. Compared to water’s hydrogen and oxygen
atoms, pet ether’s C-O bond is smaller. Water is classified as a polar solvent since it has distinct
positive and negative pole. Applying the general guideline, like dissolves like, the solubility of
each compound in the solvents can be predicted by knowing their polarities (Raymond 2006).
Most organic molecules are usually relatively non-polar and soluble in organic solvents like
petroleum ether but not in polar solvents, although there are some that are more soluble in
water. In the experiment, only acetic acid and cyclohexanol were completely dissolved with the
petroleum ether as the solvent, while acetic acid, sodium benzoate, and dextrose were
completely dissolved in water.
Acetic acid is a polar molecule that can form hydrogen bond with water making it very
soluble in H O, however, it was also observed to be soluble in the organic solvent. The reason
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behind this is the ability of acetic acid to dimerize or form a double structure that can
accommodate double hydrogen bonding. This structure has no dipole moment and the “dimer”
can serve as a solvent in nonpolar solvents. Benzoic acid is a polar substance so it would make
sense that it did not dissolve in the organic solvent, but this compound was also observed to be
insoluble in water. It is because of the large nonpolar benzene ring in the structure, which water
cannot dissolve (Solomons 2011). Sodium benzoate consists of two ions namely Na and +

C H OO where the benzoic acid is made up of molecules and is polar, therefore it is soluble in
6 5
-

water and insoluble in pet ether. Cyclohexanol, even though most alcohols are soluble in water,
is not water-soluble because as the number of carbon increases, its solubility in water
decreases (Raymond, 2006). Cyclohexanol has 6 carbons which is the large non-polar part
forming strong London dispersion forces with other cyclohexanol molecule, therefore it resulted
to dissolution in pet ether but not in water. Dextrose is a medium-sized polar molecule that is
soluble in water but not in pet ether. Lastly, cellulose (cotton fiber) was observed to be insoluble
in both water and the organic compound. This insolubility can be explained by the strong
intermolecular hydrogen bonding between cellulose molecules. These solubility results were
summarized in Table 1.3.
For the observation of the effect of pH on the solubility, six organic compounds: aniline,
diethylamine, naphthalene, toluene, benzoic acid, and phenol were used with four solvents:
water, HCl, NaOH, and NaHCO having a pH of 6.5 to 8.5 for water, 3.01 for 1mM HCl, 13 for
3

NaOH, and 8.31 for 0.1M solution of NaHCO . The pH also plays a role in the formation of liquid
3

solutions by changing the charge state of the solute. Solutes usually have minimal solubility if
the pH at which an amino acid has a net charge of zero, called the isoelectric point or pI
(Raymond 2006). Compounds containing acidic or basic functional groups that are not water-
soluble can become soluble in an aqueous environment if they form an ionic species when
mixed with an acid or base since the ionic form is more polar. In aqueous hydroxide, the
solubility of carboxylic acids and phenols with pKa of 3-5 and 9-10 respectively, is because of
the formation of the polar (ionic) carboxylate/phenoxide groups. These are much stronger acids
than water, resulting to the shifting of the acid-base equilibria to the right (more polar side).