Saber
alias Picric-A
Posts: 56
Registered: 6-9-2008
Location: England
Member Is Offline
Mood: vry vry bad mood
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EP Ideas
This summer I will be doing a Extended Project as part of a school examination.
This involves a 5000 word write-up of an experiment, documenting important variables, for example, choice of dehydrating agents in esterification
reactions, effect of varying concentration of UV light on free radical chlorination reactions ect… These must be supported by graphs and facts
(patents/literature ect)
My question is does anybody have any ideas for the topic I could write about?
I would like to do it based on an organic synthesis but I am not sure what to do. Has anybody got any experience in doing these that they would like
to share?
Thanks,
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entropy51
Gone, but not forgotten
Posts: 1612
Registered: 30-5-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: Fissile
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Saber, not organic synthesis exactly, but something that has at times generated a lot of discussion here, is the concentration of acetic acid up to
glacial.
I'm not referring to taking vinegar up to glacial, but say going from 90% AA up to GAA.
Fractional distillation doesn't seem to be really possible on a lab scale (or is it?), freezing out the GAA doesn't either. Azeotroping out the water
with an acetate ester seems possible, but details seem lacking. Dehydrating agents??
Probably not novel enough for your project, but just a thought. It does involve some good chemistry, such as azeotrope formation however. There's
been a lot of difference of opinion as to whether AA forms an azeotrope with water or not.
Other members can probably suggest better projects, but this came to mind as something in the nature of an unresolved issue on the forum.
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stateofhack
Hazard to Others
Posts: 123
Registered: 6-5-2008
Location: Warm Coast
Member Is Offline
Mood: annoyed
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Hey,
I did mine on bio fuels! (Investigating the production and calorimetric values of biodiesel and different blends to determine its potential as an
alternative fuel) i got full marks for it (so +1 extra IB point)
If your interested hit me up on msn and i can give you a hand and choosing!
Choosing your topic can be annoying and hard! Choose carefully!
edit: Here is my abstract:
The aim of this investigative extended essay was to determine the calorific values of different blends of biodiesel and diesel. Thorough research was
done on the different ways to produce it and the different types. By using the transesterification process I produced high quality biodiesel. I then
researched different types of fuel to blend it with and decided to use diesel. As a calorimeter was unavailable to me I researched, planned and
designed my own. After performing a series of tests with biodiesel blended with diesel I was able to determine the calorific values of it. I came to
the conclusion that biofuels could make a possible alternative fuel but only under certain conditions. They could be used in cars, boats and
“scooters” but all with different fuel to biodiesel ratios. I also discovered that up to a certain ratio of biodiesel to fuel the calorific output
is not lowered much, but as soon as the ratio gets above 1:2 there is a considerable fall in the value of ∆H.
Hope it is some sort of help!
[Edited on 3-7-2009 by stateofhack]
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