IR Spectroscopy Lab Report

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This experiment sought to utilize melting point, boiling point, infrared (IR) spectroscopy, and the index of hydrogen deficiency (IHD) to identify the structures of two unknown compounds. To ensure the successful identification of the unknowns, the molecular formula for each compound was found first. What the molecular formula does is that it allows chemists to identify elements present in a compound as well as the quantity of each element. The issue with this is that there are various compounds that share the same molecular compound yet are different in reactivity and connectivity. To resolve this problem, other measures such as finding functional groups based on IR spectroscopy, determining the boiling or melting point of a compound, and identifying the bond/ring structures using IHD are taken.
IR spectroscopy measures the absorption of infrared light that corresponds to transitions among different molecular vibrations (Gilbert & Martin 2011). An IR spectroscopy is typically used to determine the presence or absence of functional groups of a given …show more content…

The boiling point of a substance is “the temperature at which the total vapor pressure of the liquid is equal to the external pressure” (Gilbert & Martin 2011). Boiling point is the point at which the evaporation rate of a given liquid increases as bubbles are formed. The boiling point is usually determined by “reading the thermometer during a simple distillation” (Gilbert & Martin 2011). However for the purposes of this lab, a miniscale method was used to determine the boiling point. This method requires for a liquid to be heated using the apparatus seen in Figure 1. A thermometer is placed just above the liquid at a height where the thermometer is able to measure the vapor temperature of the liquid, not the liquid itself. As the liquid heats, the temperature rises until it reaches an equilibrium where it cannot increase any

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