Formation of an Alkene by Alcohol Dehydration Essay Example for Free

Formation of an olefine by Alcohol Dehydration EssayBeers Law is an empirical relationship that relates the absorption of giddy to the properties of the material through which the slack is travelling. In turn, absorbance is proportional to tightness and the higher the concentration, the higher the absorbance. This experiment combine Beers Law and is focused on determining the stress that various alcoholic drinks digest on biological membranes. Using five solutions of differing alcohol concentration for each of the three alcohols methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol and a small slice of beetroot, the stir solution was placed into a plastic cuvette and then into a spectrophotometer and the absorbance of alcohol solutions were determined in sanctify to conclude which alcohol and concentration of alcohol had the greatest effect on biological membranes. The results showed that the most non-polar of the alcohols cosmos tested, 1-proponal, caused the greatest modify to the biolo gical membrane, the beet cells vacuole.INTRODUCTION The boundary between whatsoever cell and its environment is the plasma membrane, composed of a matrix of phospholipides molecules with many unalike kinds of proteins. Membranes buzz off different properties and a variety of functions, in large part determined by the specific proteins within the membrane. The offer of this experiment is to observe the effects of various alcohols on biological membranes, to determine the stress that various alcohols have on biological membranes and to conclude which concentration of alcohol has the greatest effect on biological membranes.The aboriginal plant vacuole of plant cells contains water and solutes, including water-soluble pigments. Its membrane, the tonoplast, is normally poorly permeable to water. The central plant vacuole of the descend cells of beet contains a water-soluble red pigment, betacyanin, which gives the beet its characteristic color. Since the pigment is water-soluble a nd not lipid soluble, it remains in the vacuole when cells are healthy. If the tonoplast and the plasma membrane are damaged, the vacuoles contents will escapism out into the touch environment.Membrane disruption generally occurs when the cell is dead. Methanol, ethanol and 1-propanol are very mistakable alcohols, differing only in the number of carbon and hydrogen atoms within the molecule. One possible reason wherefore these alcohols are so toxic to living organisms is that they might damage membranes. The polarity of methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol comes from the OH group where the electrons are affected. The long the R group the less(prenominal) the attraction.If 1-propanol is the most non-polar alcohol of the alcohols being tested, then 1-proponol will cause the greatest damage to the biological membrane, the beet cells vacuole. The effect of three different alcohols, methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol, were tested on the beet vacuole membranes in this experiment. A measu re of absorbance was self-possessed using a conductivity probe. If a beet cells vacuole membrane (the tonoplast) was damaged, the red pigment, betacyanin, leaked out of the cell.The more red pigment that leaked out into the surrounding environment and the more intense the pigment, the greater the absorbance and the amount of cellular damage sustained by the beet. RESULTS The absorbance of methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol were collected after the alcohol solutions of differing concentrations were placed in the plastic cuvette and then into the spectrophotometer. The absorbance of methanol, ethanol, and 1-proponal followed a general trend the absorbance of the alcohol increased in relation to the rise in concentration of each alcohol solution.Figure 1. The chart depicts five solution of differing alcohol concentrations for each of the three alcohols methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol. The alcohol with the highest measurement of absorbance was the non-polar 1-proponal. (Figure 1) DIS CUSSION The results (Figure 1), in general, fill-in the original hypothesis that if 1-propanol is the most non-polar alcohol of the alcohols being tested, then 1-proponol will cause the greatest damage to the biological membrane, the beet cells vacuole.Hence, 1-proponal had the highest absorbance. The polarity of methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol comes from the OH group, where the electrons are effected. The longer the R group the less the attraction between the molecules. In turn, methanol, ethanol, and 1-propanol are arranged from most polar to non-polar. At concentrations of 20% methanol, 10% and 20% ethanol, and 20% 1-propanol, the absorbance did not follow the general trend of data. This is due to sources of error in this experiment. in that respect proved to have many sources of error in this experiment given the data gathered in this study and the evidence to this point. Sources of error include the size and surface area of the beat, cross contamination, and puncturing the b eet during the soul-stirring of solution. If the size and surface area of the beet slices were not uniform, bigger slices of beets had the potential to secrete a big quantity of red pigment and a greater intensity in color in turn, change magnitude the absorbance.If the alcohol solutions were not stirred in order from lowest concentration to highest concentration, cross contamination would have occurred. If lower concentrations of alcohol are diluted with higher concentrations of alcohol, the absorbance of the lower concentration of alcohol will increase. If the beet was punctured during the stirring process, a greater amount of red pigment leaked out into the surrounding environment and in turn, the absorbance is increased.Beers Law is an empirical relationship that relates the absorption of light to the properties of the material through which the light is travelling. Beers Law is represented as A = ? bc (1) Where A is equal to the absorbance, ? is equal to the poor boy absorb tivity, b is equal to path length, and c is equal to concentration. In turn, absorbance is proportional to concentration and the higher the concentration of the red pigment that leaks out into the surrounding environment, the higher the absorbance of the alcohol.