Wednesday, May 11, 2011

7th Blog

Today, my classmates and I finished mixing the biodiesel. We copied a procedure we saw from a video. (If you want to see the video, click on this link: http://monkeysee.com/play/11686-how-to-make-biodiesel-at-home )To mix the biodiesel, we used 12 grams sodium hydroxide, 250mL methanol, and 1L used cooking oil for each bottle. We got a lot done today and worked efficiently

The whole class was divided into 3 groups. First group poured exactly 1L of oil into each bottle. Second group measured 12 grams of sodium hydroxide. The third group handled methanol. Once the oil was poured in every bottle, everyone got a jar of methanol. We each added sodium hydroxide into the jar and mixed them together. The jar soon turned warm from the chemical reaction. We had to shake the jar until all the sodium hydroxide dissolved. This process created methoxide. After that, the methoxide was poured into each bottle. The bottle was flipped upside down 8 times and placed upside down in its own beaker. I learned that sodium hydroxide and methanol can be very deadly and that we must be careful at all times. I thought about how the liquid in the bottle would look tomorrow and if we succesfully accomplished the task.
This is a picture of sodium hydroxide: 


2 comments:

  1. I like how descriptive you were with the process. What is the point of the methoxide? What was its purpose in the oil?

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  2. Why the specific amount of sodium hydroxide and how did it effect the expiriemient?

    ReplyDelete