Graduation Year
2014
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
W.M. Keck Science Department
Second Department
Chemistry
Reader 1
Anthony Fucaloro
Reader 2
Mary Hatcher-Skeers
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2013 Priyanka P. Chary
Abstract
Alcohol molecules consist of two distinct regions: a polar, hydrophilic alcohol group, and an aliphatic hydrocarbon chain. These regions interact with solvent water molecules in different ways. While the alcohol group acts as a solvent structure breaker by hydrogen bonding with nearby water molecules, the hydrophobic carbon chain acts instead as a solvent structure maker and causes the surrounding water molecules to align themselves in a Clathrate structure. The presence of these two contrasting solute-solvent interactions affects the properties of the solution, among them the molar volume. The partial molar volume of the alcohol is analyzed with respect to three variables: the size and location of the hydrophilic moiety, the concentration of the alcohol-water solution, and the temperature at which the density measurement is made. We show that all three of these variables have a noticeable effect on the interactions between the solute and solvent molecules, and thus the volume of the solution.
Recommended Citation
Chary, Priyanka P., "A Volumetric Study of Aqueous Butanol Solutions" (2014). Scripps Senior Theses. 319.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/319
