Rotary Evaporator
Who We Are
What We Did
On the night of the 23rd, we helped with the process of concentrating the chemicals. This involved weighing out 2 grams of sediment and adding it to the dicholoromethane. We then put them into a machine called a Sonicator which homogenized the mixtures over the next hour. While that was happening, another student set up a filtration system for each bottle using fiberglass and more DCM. Each sediment sample was poured through it’s own filter. After that we put them one at a time into the Rotary Evaporator. This device was using evaporation to pull out the excess DCM and left a small amount of the sample chemicals behind. This sample was then put into a small vial in which I added then 10mL of Petroleum Ether.
What We Learned
I learned a lot about the process because I was asking many questions. I learned about the two machines that were used and why things were being done a certain way. They also said that after that night, they will continue to concentrate the sample using Nitrogen.
Questions We Have
I would be interested in the Nitrogen process and how that happens. I would also like to know what they end up looking for in the final results.
Connections to Teaching
The measuring of the sediment as well as the new vocabulary.