This experiment aims to determine the values of K and n in the

distribution of acetic acid between water and diethyl ether by using the
Nernst Distribution Law. The law states that if two liquids are partially
immiscible which form two phases and another component is present in both
phases which behaves independently as a solute and has the same
molecular state in both of the liquids, then the ratio of the concentration of
the solute in the two phases is constant
C1/C2=K
However in the case of this experiment, the molecular state of the
solute which is acetic acid is different or it dissociates or associates in one of
the phases. So, the ratio of the concentration of the solute in the two phases
is no longer constant.
C2n/C1=K
The first part of the experiment involved serial dilution of acetic acid to
produce different concentrations (1 M, 0.5M, and 0.25M). This is one method
of dilution where a known higher concentration of a solution is diluted to
produce another concentration of the solution of lower value. Known
concentrated solution of acetic acid (18M) was used to produce 250 mL of
1M concentration of acetic acid. Using the equation C1V1=C2V2,
approximately 13.89 mL of the concentrate ed solution was obtained and
diluted to 250 mL in order to produce 1M concentration of the solute. Further
dilutions were done to produce the 0.5 and 0.25 concentrations. In a
separatory funnel, 25 mL of 1M solution of the solution was mixed with 25mL
of diethyl ether. The mixing procedure was also done using 0.5 and 0.25M
acetic acid. The mixture was shaken properly and were left to stand for 10
minutes until the layers were completely separated. During this process,
acetic acid distributes itself between the two solvents.
Waiting for the layers to separate completely, preparation of 0.5M and
0.1M concentrations of NaOH were done by dissolving 20.0061 and 4.0060
grams respectively with 1L of distilled water. Both solutions were
standardized with Potassium hydrogen phthalate (KHP). The final
concentration of 0.5M and 0.1M NaOH after standardization were 0.3462M
and 0.0704 respectively.
After the layers were completely separated, the aqueous and ether
layer were obtained in different flasks, added with distilled water and titrated
with 0.5 and 0.1 M NaOH respectively. For 0.25 M acetic acid, both aqueous
and ether layer were titrated using 0.1M NaOH for the reason that 0.5M
NaOH is too concentrated to be used as the titrant for 0.25M acetic acid and
It will be harder to reach the equivalence point accurately. Since the titration
process involved acetic acid, a weak acid and NaOH which is a strong base,
the pH at the equivalence point is basic and thus the indicator used was
phenolphthalein (pH=9). The Concentration of acetic acid in solution of water
and diethyl ether were determined using the acquired volume of NaOH. Since
the ratio of acetic acid and NaOH in the solution is 1:1, the number of moles
of NaOH is equal to that of the acetic acid and from the number of moles of
acetic acid divided by the volume of the solution, the concentration of the
acetic acid in the two layers was determined.
Th e ratio of the average molecular weight of acetic acid in water and
diethyl ether (n) was determined by getting the slope of the curve of log Cw
(concentration of acetic acid in aqueous layer) Vs log Co (concentration of
acetic acid in ether layer) while the partition coefficient (K) of was calculated
using the formula LogK=nLogCw-logCo. The K and values of acetic acid in
0.5-1M acetic acid are ------ and ----- respectively and for 0.25-0.5M, K and n
values are -------- and ----- respectively. The values of n indicates the
dissociation or association of acetic acid in aqueous layer. For 0.5-1M acetic
acid, the value of n is less than 1 and this indicates that acetic acid
associates in water and its average molecular weight in water increases. For
0.25-0.5M acetic acid,n is greater than one. This one indicates that acetic
acid dissociates in aqueous solution and its average molecular weight
decreases. Theoretically, acetic acid tends to dissociates in water and n must
be greater than 1.

f(x)==10.82x - 0.42
R
f(x) = 1.05x - 0.25
R = 1