Emulsions

Noadswood Science, 2011

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Emulsions

To know what emulsions are and how they are useful

Word-search

Complete the organic chemistry wordsearch

Word-search
Across: 3. Distillation 7. Alkane 8. Polymerise 9. Saturated Down: -

1. Alkene 2. Homologous 4. Cracking 5. Fractions 6. Bromine

Processed Foods

Processed foods, including vegetable oils, may have chemicals added to them
Lecithin (E322) is one example it is an emulsifier which allows oil and water to mix, used in margarine, ice cream, salad cream etc Additives are listed on the ingredients label of such foods, and many of these additives have E numbers to identify them

Immiscible Liquids

Immiscible liquids do not mix together, e.g. oil floats on the surface of the water when mixed.
If you shake oil and water together then leave them to stand, tiny droplets of oil float upwards they join together until eventually the oil is floating on the water again This is not a useful property when concerned with foods which often contain both oil and water (such as salad cream) without a binder to hold the two together they would keep separating

Emulsifier

Emulsifiers are molecules that have two different ends:

A hydrophilic end (water-loving) that forms chemical bonds with water but not with oils A hydrophobic end (water-hating) that forms chemical bonds with oils but not with water

Emulsifier

The hydrophilic 'head' dissolves in the water and the hydrophobic 'tail' dissolves in the oil
In this way, the water and oil droplets become unable to separate out the mixture formed is called an emulsion

Emulsifier Versus Emulsion

An emulsion is a mixture of oil and water

An emulsifier is a specific molecule able to bind the two ends so they stick together (i.e. the oil and water bind)

E.g. Lecithin is an emulsifier which binds the emulsion of water and oil

Emulsifier Experiment

Carry out the emulsifier experiment to identify which emulsifier is best at making an emulsion between oil and water

Consider how stable the different emulsifiers are, what differing properties they possess and which one you would choose to use Design your own table for results, variables to control and measure and then proceed to experiment

Note your findings coming to the best emulsifier conclusion (and how you came to this)

Emulsions

There are many common emulsions, including:

Butter Milk Ice cream Mayonnaise Moisturising lotion Emulsion paint Egg yolk Salad cream Margarine Skin cream

Properties

Emulsions are thicker than oil or water and have many uses that depend on their special properties
Emulsions can provide better texture or coating ability and appearance