Relation of Miscibility to Chain Length of Organic Alcohols

CCA! Volume 5

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Relation of Miscibility to Chain Length of Organic Alcohols

Water is added to ethanol, butanol, and hexanol. Differences in miscibility are demonstrated.

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Colored water is added to ethanol, butanol and hexanol. Water is miscible in ethanol, but not in butanol and hexanol. Butanol has a shorter carbon chain and is less hydrophobic than hexanol. This causes butanol and water to separate more slowly.