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Water plus Methanol

  • 10-12-2010 3:47pm
    #1
    Miami Snow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 80 ✭✭


    Hi,

    I am just wondering why a methanol and water solution contracts?
    Is it to do with their miscible properties when they are added together?


Comments

  • #2
    cianl1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 336 ✭✭cianl1


    Are you familiar with the phrase "like dissolves like"? It's facilitated by the polar hydroxyl group. But the main factor is chain length. The shorter the chain length the more water soluble the alcohol, until such a point where they remain as two separate layers.


  • #3
    SOL
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,155 ✭✭✭SOL


    It's because they pack more efficiently together, water on it's own has a series of hydrogen bonds which contribute to inefficiency in packing, but if you add in methanol CH3OH it will occupy spaces in solution that the H20s couldn't and so the total volume is going to be less than the sum of the initial two volumes.

    I know that's a bit hand-wavey but I hope it helps...


  • #4
    Crasp
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 624 ✭✭✭Crasp


    science is fun


  • #5
    Miami Snow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 80 ✭✭Miami Snow


    Yeah that's great SOL, thanks for the help! :D

    I don't have the facility to thank posts, would you know anything about this?


  • #6
    SOL
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,155 ✭✭✭SOL


    It's the little thumbs up on the bottom right of each post... though there might be restrictions on new users till they have 25 posts to prevent spam.

    But either way, no problem...


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