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During a solvent extraction, a student lost track of which layer was the aqueous

ID: 1051058 • Letter: D

Question

During a solvent extraction, a student lost track of which layer was the aqueous layer and which layer was the organic layer. What simple, non-destructive test could be used to determine which layer is which?

a. add a little distilled water to see which layer the water adds to

b. obtain a sample of the solution in the seperatory funnel and ultilize IR

c. ask the instructor if you can perform a supercritical extraction of the sample

c. obtain a sample of solution in seperatory funnel and utilize NMR

Explanation / Answer

answer

a. add a little-distilled water to see which layer the water adds to

depending density of organic solvent-water layer can be top or bottom when we add little water you can absorb water addition or repulsion which helps to identify water layer