Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry

Bachelor's degree in Chemistry

Prof. Msc. Vadilson M. Santos

FÍSICO-QUÍMICA II - EXPERIMENTAL

EXPERIMENT 4 - REFRACTOMETRY

OBJECTIVE:

Investigate the refractive index of different liquids

Determination of sugar concentration (BRIX) in various liquids.
Determination of salinity in natural samples.
Use the BRIX scale.

Materials Reagents
200 mL volumetric flask Distilled water
25 mL volumetric flask Ethyl alcohol P.A
100 mL volumetric flask Sea water sample
Glass rod Magnesium chloride
25 mL beaker Potassium chloride
500 mL Erlenmeyer of Sodium chloride
25mL Test tube rack Coca-Cola can
spatula test Coca-Cola Zero in can
Micropipette Guaraná in a can
10 mL volumetric pipette Natural honey
Probes Sucrose P.A
Thermometers Sodium Sulfate
Test tubes
Watch glass
Portable refractometer RTA-50
Portable Refractometer RTS-101 ATC

THEORY:

Snell-Descartes' Law, also known as Snell's law or Descartes' law or still,

simply put, Snell's law of refraction can be summarized as an expression that gives the angular deviation experienced by
a ray of light when passing into a different medium from which it was traveling. Each medium
it presents a type of 'resistance' to the passage of radiation. This resistance also depends on the
wavelength of radiation. This so-called "resistance" is known as the refractive index (n)
a dimensionless quantity defined by the expression:

ondec= 3 x 108c is the speed of light in a vacuum and v is the speed of light in a certain medium.

Optical Continuity: Let's consider two transparent mediums 1 and 2 and a beam of light directing
of the 1 for 2. For a refracted beam to exist, it is necessary that.1≠ 2
When n1= n2, there is no reflected light and there is also no change in the direction of light when changing from
medium; we say that there is optical continuity.
When we have a glass rod inside a container containing a liquid with the same
refraction index of the glass, the part of the rod that is submerged, not reflecting light, remains
"invisible".

Fig. 1 - Refraction of light - A phenomenon in which it is transmitted from one medium to another different one.

Where:

Ray 1 is the incident ray, with characteristic speed and wavelength;

Ray 2 is the refracted ray, with characteristic speed and wavelength;
The dashed line is the normal line to the surface;
. 1The angle formed between ray 1 and the normal line is the angle of incidence;
. 2The angle formed between ray 2 and the normal line is the angle of refraction;
The boundary between the two media is a planar dioptre.

By knowing the elements of refraction, we can understand the phenomenon through the two laws.
that the regime.

1st Law of Refraction: The 1st law of refraction states that the incident ray (ray 1), the refracted ray (ray 2) and
the normal line to the point of incidence (dashed line) is contained in the same plane, which in this case
The drawing above is the screen plan.

Second Law of Refraction - Snell's Law: The second law of refraction is used to calculate the deviation of rays.
of light when changing medium, and is expressed by:
However, we know that:

Besides that:

By grouping this information, we arrive at a complete form of Snell's Law:

In general, the speed of light in material media is less than c; and thus, in general,
1. By extension, we define the refractive index of a vacuum, which is obviously equal to 1.

BRIX Scale

Brix (symbol °Bx) is a numerical scale that measures the amount of soluble solids in a
sucrose solution. The Brix scale is used in the food industry to measure the amount
approximate sugars in fruit juices, wines, and in the sugar industry. The brix scale,
created by Adolf F. Brix (1798 - 1870) - was originally derived from the Balling scale,
recalculating the reference temperature of 15.5 °C.

The amount of soluble solid is the total of all solids dissolved in water, starting with
sugar, salt, proteins, acids, etc., and the measured reading values are the sum of all of them. A
A solution of 25 °Bx has 25 grams of sucrose sugar per 100 grams of liquid. Or, for
Put another way, there are 25 grams of sucrose sugar and 75 grams of water in the 100.
grams of the solution. The instrument used to measure the concentration of aqueous solutions is the
refractometer.

Salinity

The parameter salinity, used to express the amount of salts contained in the water, represents
the total amount (in grams) of dissolved salts present in 1 Kg of water:

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The approximate value of the salinity of seawater is around [Link].-1, também expresso
like 35%0The seawater from Wornly (south of England) is used as an international standard for
composition of seawater.

Table 1– Typical composition of seawater

 EXPERIMENTAL PART

Use of reflectometers

Portable refractometers are devices intended to measure the concentration of salt water.
or brine in solutions, measure the alcohol content, obtain the sugar content or measure
amounts of proteins in various samples. Operate without the need for batteries or
energy sources, as they are entirely based on optical principles and not on electronic circuits.

View of the internal reticulum

Correction screw

Prism coverage

Price Focus ring

ma (adjustment)

Corpo do refratômetro

Operating mode:

a) The operation must be performed at 20°C. Be very careful when handling the refractometer,
because it is a very sensitive optical instrument. Do not touch or scratch the surface of the prism;
b) Point the prism of the reflectometer towards the light and adjust the focus ring until the reticle.
can be seen clearly;
c) Adjust the zero, if necessary;
d) Lift the lid of the prism, place two drops of distilled water, close the lid and
check if the light/dark limit is coinciding with zero;
e) Lift the lid of the prism and carefully clean it using absorbent paper.
f) Place one or two drops of the sample to be measured. Close the prism cover.
gently and read the scale;
g) After the measurement, clean the prism and the lid with a damp cloth and dry the surface with a
soft and non-abrasive absorbent paper.
h) In the refractometer for measuring sugar content, the reading is obtained in %BRIX and %Vol (content
alcoholic) and what measures salinity is on the % scale0.
Part 1 - Sucrose Solutions

a) Weigh 40g of sucrose in a beaker and add just enough water for complete dissolution.
dissolution of sugar. Transfer the obtained solution to a 200mL volumetric flask,
Fill the volume with water, shake well, and thus obtain a 20% solution.
(mass/volume) or at 0.20 g/mL of sucrose.

b) Starting from this first solution, using pipettes and 100mL volumetric flasks, prepare
the other solutions as follows:

15% solution (or 0.15g/mL): take 75mL of the 20% solution and complete up to 100mL with
water
10% solution (or 0.10g/mL): take 50mL of the 20% solution and complete to 100mL with
water
Solution at 5% (or 0.05g/mL): take 25mL of the 10% solution and complete to 100mL with
water
Solution at 2.5% (or at 0.025g/mL): take 12.5ml of the 5% solution and complete to 100mL with
water.

c) After preparing each solution and before obtaining the next one, homogenize it well.
agitation.
d) Determine the refractive index of each of these five solutions and also of water
pure. Start with water and proceed with the more diluted solutions.
e) Construct a graph of the refractive index as a function of concentration (%). And estimate the
value of the refractive index of the solution with a concentration equal to 7%.

Part 2 - Determining the sugar and sodium content in soft drinks.

a) Mix 10 mL of Coca-Cola with 90 mL of distilled water and then determine the index.
of refraction of this solution. With the help of the BRIX table, determine the concentration (%)
of the sugar in this soda based on the measured refractive index value. Remember that
the measurement was made with the diluted soda.
b) Determine the sodium content of the soft drinks and compare it with the label of each one.
c) Repeat the same procedure from the previous item now with Coke Zero and for the guaraná.

Part 3 - Determining the moisture content in honey.

a) Measure the refractive index of the honey samples on your bench and, considering the table
2, find the percentage of water contained.
b) Determine which of the samples may be adulterated.

Part 4 - Determining salinity.

a) Prepare a solution containing salt concentrations close to that of seawater as per

the concentrations presented in table 1 using magnesium, potassium, and sodium chlorides
measure the refractive index and determine the salinity.
b) Measure the sample index of the seawater sample and determine the salinity.
Table 2 - Relationship between the refractive index and the percentage of water in honey.

QUESTIONS FOR THE REPORT

a)Explain what a dioptre is.

b)Explain the principle of operation of portable refractometers.
c)Explain how an Abbe refractometer works and what the main differences are.
among the portable refractometers.
d) Apresente um resumo de toda a parte teórica sobre refração (revisão bibliográfica).
e)Present examples of how the refractometry technique can be used in the industry.
food-related, in the study of waters and in environmental issues.
f)Is marine salinity constant? Explain which environmental factors can influence it.
salinity of seas and oceans.

Observations:

At the end of the class, all the glassware must be properly washed.
It is mandatory to use personal protective equipment (PPE)