Discussions

The percentage recovery of the benzoic acid was only with 75.38 % or approximately
with 75 percent. This percentage was make sense because the rest of the percent had lost
during the experiment. There are 25 percent of the pure benzoic acid was lost might be

due with some of this several factor.

For example, when the crude benzoic acid was measured and transferred into the
Erlenmeyer flask, there may have some of the crude benzoic acid have spilled out at
somewhere or there was still a small amount of the crude benzoic acid from the weighing

dish are not successfully transferred to the Erlenmeyer flasks.

Crude benzoic acid meaning that it was not a pure benzoic acid. There was still have
some impurities were inside the compound. When the impurities have been eliminated
from the crude benzoic acid, then the pure benzoic acid would be produced. The

impurities can be eliminated by utilized the hot filtration process to do so.

Next, the other reason that can be used for explains the loss of the benzoic acid was the
water had added too much which caused the solution became more dilute. Generally, if
more water had added for dissolved a chemical substances, the rate of dissolved the
substances will be very fast. Therefore, the less saturated of the solution it is.

(1chemistry.blogspot.my, 2011)
Once the solid form of benzoic acid is fully dissolved, the remaining impurities can be
removed by filtering the hot solution through a fluted filter paper and then placed inside
the glass filter funnel. However, the solution would be cool rapidly when the Erlenmeyer
flask was removed from the hot plate. (Department Chemical Science, Faculty Science,
University Tunku Abdul Rahman, UDEC 1224 Chemistry Laboratory II (2016),

Experiment 14: Recrystallization (pg45-48).)

There are two primary advantages of used the fluted filter paper in this experiment. First,
the filter area can be increased as well. The second one is the gaps was created between
the filter paper and the funnel which resting on the Erlenmeyer flask. These gaps provide
a means for the particular solvent flow through. When the particular solvent passed
through the fluted filter paper, it was greatly increased the rate of solvent flow through
the fluted filter paper. (Anon, why is a fluted filter paper used in the filtration process?
what is it's advantage?)

The fast cooling process will lead the crystal benzoic acid formed during the filtration
process. So, the fast cooling process could be minimized by used a stemless funnel placed
on top of the Erlenmeyer flask and heat the flask with containing a few milliliters of
distilled water inside the Erlenmeyer flask so that the cooling process would be take place

slowly and the crystallized benzoic acid formed slowly.

The size of the crystal formed was depends rate of cooling process. If the rate of cooling
process is slower, the crystal formed would become larger so it can be easily filtered out.
However, for faster cooling process, the size of the crystal formed would be smaller
hence the hardly for the impurities filtered out and stand on the filter paper. In order to
obtain the higher mass of benzoic acid, the slower cooling process was the most
appropriate way to enhance the weight of the benzoic acid. After this, the benzoic acid
have been immersed to the ice bath so the crystalline solid of benzoic acid can formed

even more completely.

The boiling chips were added in this experiment. Boiling chips are small, insoluble, and
porous stones made of calcium carbonate or silicon carbide. There is a lot of pores inside
the boiling chips in which it provides nucleation site to trap air and creates space to allow
the bubble of solvent to form. When the boiling chips are heated, it will release tiny
bubbles which can prevent bumping and boiling over of the mixture so that the loss of
solution can be avoided even it is boiled. (1chemistry.blogspot.my, 2011)

The boiling chips must be added before boiling of solution instead of after boiling. This is
because adding boiling chips to a solution near its boiling point will induce flash boiling
as well. The boiling chips are not soluble in the solvent and hence they can be filtered out
by using filter paper, but they are not reusable. (1chemistry.blogspot.my, 2011)

The cold water was used for washed the product. This is because the solubility of the
benzoic acid. The benzoic acid was soluble in non-chilled distilled water but less soluble
in cold distilled water. If the non-chilled distilled water used for washed the benzoic acid
then the benzoic acid would be redissolved into the water readily. After that, the benzoic
acid might be drained off into the flask during the suction filtration process. When this
was happen then the benzoic acid would be lost more. So, in order to prevent the benzoic

acid reddisolved, cold distilled water was preferred for washed the benzoic acid instead

of used the non-chilled distilled water.

During the suction filtration process, the crystal was formed on the filter paper which
rested on the Buchner funnel. The crystal on the filter paper are the pure benzoic acid.
The pure benzoic acid was in crystal formed. Crystals form by a process called
nucleation, which takes place in solutions containing a high concentration of the solute.
Then, the molecules of solutes will be aggregate together. The aggregation can be
initiated by adding a nucleus to the solution. When a nucleus is formed, the solute
particles will automatically bind together, thereby the growth of a crystal are on the filter

paper during the suction filtration. (Anon, How do crystals form?)

The melting point of the pure benzoic acid that obtained in this experiment was 120 C
and the literature value of melting point of the benzoic acid was 122 C. This melting
point was satisfied because there is only with the difference of 2 C. Although this
accuracy was high enough but there is still have some impurities was inside the recover

benzoic acid.
If the recover benzoic acid are highly pure, then when may observed the melt of capillary
tube. However, the capillary tube was not melt so meaning that there are still some
impurities are not eliminate successfully from the pure benzoic acid. The impurities or
contaminants most probably presence inside the benzoic acid was water since the
charcoal was never involved in this experiment.

Conclusion

The percentage recovery of benzoic acid and the melting points of pure benzoic acid in
this recrystallization process was 75 percent and 120 degree Celsius respectively.

References
Department Chemical Science, Faculty Science, University Tunku Abdul Rahman, UDEC 1224
Chemistry Laboratory II (2016), Experiment 14: Recrystallization (pg45-48) Retrieved 19
August

2016,

from

http://wble-pk.utar.edu.my/file.php/12032/UDEC_1224_-

_Chemistry_Laboratory_II_Manual.pdf

Anon,

One

Part

of

Chemistry.

Recrystallization.

Available

at:

http://1chemistry.blogspot.my/2011/08/recrystallization.html [Accessed August 19, 2016].

Anon, why is a fluted filter paper used in the filtration process?what is it's advantage? Yahoo!
Answers.

Available

at:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=1006030508065

[Accessed August 19, 2016].

Anon,

How

do

crystals

form?

Reference.

Available

at:

https://www.reference.com/science/crystals-form-d84cf0abb3607cd0# [Accessed August 19,

2016].