Question

Equally soluble in a variety of organic solvents (bottles labeled A, B, C). If the student needs the aqueous layer to be the bottom layer in the separatory funnel, what piece of information is most critical for making the solvent selection?

Answer 1

Answer: The piece of information that is most critical for making the solvent selection is that the organic solvent must be less dense than the aqueous solution

Explanation: separatory funnel is a type of separation technique that is used in a chemistry laboratory for the separation of a mixture that contains two immiscible solvents. It's made up of two phases;

- aqueous phase and

- organic phase.

The position of these phase depends on the selection of the solvent that makes it up. If the organic solvent is less dense than the aqueous solution, then the aqueous layer will be at the bottom layer in the separatory funnel.