DAnna-Marie Edwards

September 25, 2013

6A
Hypothesis:
If an oil is composed of saturated fatty acids it will solidify easily however, if
an oil is composed of unsaturated fatty acids it will remain in liquid form.
Aim:
To determine if coconut oils are saturated or unsaturated versus other plant
oils
Apparatus and Reagents:
1 bottle of corn oil, 1 bottle of soya bean oil, 1 bottle of olive oil, 1 bottle of
coconut oil, 4 test tubes, test tube rack, dropping pipette, bromine in
tetrachloride, stopwatch, measuring cylinder
Introduction:
In organic chemistry, a saturated compound is a chemical
compound that has a chain of carbon atoms linked together by single
bonds and has hydrogen atoms filling all of the other bonding orbitals of the
carbon atoms. An unsaturated compound is a chemical compound that
contains carbon-carbon double bonds or triple bonds. Saturated fats are
normally solid at room temperature, while unsaturated fats are liquid at room
temperature.
Vegetable oils are the best examples of unsaturated fats, while lard,
shortening and coconut oil are saturated fats. A fat's constituent fatty acids
may also differ in the number of hydrogen atoms that are bonded to the
chain of carbon atoms. Each carbon atom is typically bonded to two
hydrogen atoms. When a fatty acid has this typical arrangement, it is called
"saturated", because the carbon atoms are saturated with hydrogen;
meaning they are bonded to as many hydrogen atoms as possible.
Saturated fats can stack themselves in a closely packed
arrangement, due to its carbon hydrogen composition and so they can freeze
easily and are typically solid at room temperature. This formation is stable
1

and due to this reason, the melting temperature of these types of fats is
increased. So they stay solid at room temperature.
The carbon-carbon double bonds in unsaturated oils can be detected
using the elements bromine or iodine. These elements react with the double
bonds in the oils, and the more double bonds there are, the more bromine or
iodine is used up. Saturated fats can be identified using bromine dissolved in
CCl4. The dissolved bromine (Br2) is a brown liquid and the disappearance of
the brown colour indicates a reaction has taken place.
Precautions:
Bromine is a toxic and corrosive material. It can therefore be dangerous to
handle without taking appropriate precautions.

1. Because of the strong corrosive action of bromine it is important to

choose the reaction vessels, stoppers, tubing or any other part of the
system that may come in contact with bromine carefully.

2. Because of the toxicity of bromine, any experiment in which it is

involved must be performed in a fume cupboard

3. Precautions must be taken, such as wearing gloves and safety glasses

to protect hands and eyes.
4. When dealing with toxic substances, suitable means or materials must
be prepared that react with these substances and eliminate their
harmful effects in case of a leakage or spillage. The industrial term for
these materials is neutralizers or neutralizing agents.

Procedure:
1. Clean the 4 test tubes and arrange them in the test tube rack. Label
them according to the oils used for testing coconut oil, corn oil, soya
bean oil and olive oil.

2. Measure 20ml of each type of oil with the measuring cylinder, and pour
into the respective test tubes.

3. Drip 3 drops of Bromine in CCl4 into the first test tube. Start the
stopwatch immediately and record the time taken for the brown color
of the Bromine in CCl4 to disappear.
4. Repeat Step 3 on the other 3 types of oil, and record the results in a
table.

Expected Results:
When shaken with an unsaturated fat, the solution becomes colourless but
when shaken with a saturated fat, its colour remains the same.

TABLE SHOWING RESULTS OBTAINED

The results were plotted into a graph.
Variables:
Independent: The type of oil used for testing coconut oil, other plant oils
(corn oil, soya bean oil and olive oil)
Dependent: The time taken for the bromine colour to disappear when the
Bromine test is performed

Controlled: The amount of oil used for testing

The number of drops of Bromine in CCl4 used and the temperature of
the environment, which remained at room temperature.

Conclusion:
As bromine reacts with unsaturated oil to lose its color, a lower proportion of
unsaturated oil content will require a longer reaction time for the iodine in
the oil to lose its color
If coconut oil does not decolourize bromine or takes the longest time to do
so it implies that it has the highest proportion of saturated fat and the
hypothesis is proven to be true.