Naga College Foundation, Inc.

College of Health Sciences

BIOCHEMISTRY FOR NURSES

2nd Semester, S/Y 2024 - 2025

Name: ______________________________ Course & Year: _________ Score: ______

Instructor: _______________________________________________ Date: _________

Experiment No. 1
DISTILLATION

Objective: The experiment is to help with the separation of liquid-liquid mixture.

I. Background Information

Distillation is an extremely useful technique that is used to purify and separate liquid- liquid
mixtures. There are three common types of distillation –simple, fractional and steam distillation.

Simple distillation is used to separate the components of a liquid- liquid mixture if the boiling
points of the liquids are further apart. If the boiling points of the liquids are closer together then
fractional distillation has to be used. Steam distillation is used to separate an immiscible mixture
of essential oil and water.

In each of the processes, the liquid mixture is placed in the distilling flask as shown in Figure 1.
As the flask is heated, the lower boiling liquid vaporizes faster than the higher boiling liquid. Thus,
although both components are in the vapor phase, the vapor is richer in the lower boiling liquid.
The resulting vapor could be condensed and re-evaporated making the resulting vapor still richer
in low boiling liquid. If the process is repeated a sufficient number of times, a separation of the
two volatile components can be achieved.

Figure 1. Distillation of denatured alcohol and water mixture

II. Equipment/ Materials needed

Bunsen burner or source of heat or Water source

alcohol lamp 3 small receptacles (small beakers or
250 ml conical flask or round bottom flask conical flasks)
– distilling flask Denatured alcohol
Tripod stand Distilled water
Wire gauze Watch glass
Thermometer 8 test tubes
boiling chips Graduated cylinder
Liebig condenser fitted with rubber
tubing’s

Other requirements

Practical notebook/ Writing material. Working bench/table, Open space, Laboratory coat, Eye
goggles, Hand gloves

III. Experimental Procedure

1. Work with a partner/in a group

2. Prepare a distillation set-up using a 250 ml distilling flask. Connect its condenser jacket to tap
water noting that water should flow into the condenser of the bottom and out at the top. The
thermometer bulb should be placed about level with lower part of the neck of the flask as in
Figure 1. [Ask for help from your instructor when challenged]
3. Dissolve 40 ml denatured alcohol in about 150 ml of water and transfer it to the distilling flask
using a glass funnel so that the mixture will not slide at the sides of the flask.
4. Add a few boiling chips to the mixture in the distilling flask.
5. Make sure there is continuous flow of water
6. Have 8 pieces of clean tubes ready for use. Heat the solution in the flask to boiling and distill
over 10 ml of liquid into a graduated cylinder.
7. Transfer the distillate to one of the test tubes. Record the temperature range over which this
solution was distilled. Use the table on your report page.

10 ml portion Temperature of Odor Flammability

Distillation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

8. Collect 10 ml more liquid, again recording the temperature range of distillation. Collect 60 ml
more in successive portions of 10 ml each.
9. Test a small portion of each solution in a watch glass for odor. Can you smell alcohol in the
solution, and if so, is the odor strong or weak? Test for flammability by trying to light a small
portion of each in a watch glass. Record all results. This is known as fractional distillation.
10. Remove the heat source when the distilling flask is almost empty and allow to cool.
11. Dismantle set-up carefully and tidy up.
 Naga College Foundation, Inc.
College of Health Sciences

BIOCHEMISTRY FOR NURSES

2nd Semester, S/Y 2024 - 2025

Name: ______________________________ Course & Year: _________ Score: ______

Instructor: _______________________________________________ Date: _________

LABORATORY REPORT

I. INTRODUCTION

The introduction is where you provide the context necessary for your reader to understand
the rest of the report, particularly the data interpretation and derived conclusion. As discussed in
the section on “Making a scientific argument”, key points are to identify the purpose of the lab and
necessary experiment-specific background like chemical equations.

II. MATERIALS NEEDED:

• List down the materials based on the procedure of the experiment.

III. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES

Experimental Method Give the experimental procedure used. Do not repeat the directions
that appear in this manual; use your own words for a brief summary of the procedure. Include the
important information such as reagents used and weights, times, and temperatures. The results
of a procedure should be reported in the results section.

IV. DOCUMENTATION

V. DATA AND RESULTS

10 ml portion Temperature of Odor Flammability

Distillation
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Make an interpretation of your gathered data.

Guide questions:
 1. What is simple distillation, and how does it differ from other distillation techniques?
2. How does simple distillation help in separating the components of a mixture?
3. What changes occur during the distillation process?
4. How do the boiling points of water and denatured alcohol affect their separation?
5. What measurements or observations should be recorded during the distillation?
6. What is the purpose of the boiling chip in the experiment?
7. How can we confirm the purity of the distilled water collected?
8. What factors might influence the efficiency of the distillation process?
9. What safety measures will you take during the experiment? Discuss potential hazards,
such as exposure to high temperatures, vapor inhalation, or chemical splashes, and how
you will mitigate these risks.
10. What potential problems or complications might arise during the experiment, and how
will you address them?
.
VI. CONCLUSION

A separate conclusions section may be requested. This is a short restatement of the main
finding of the report.
Laboratory Report Rubric

Category Below Average Average Above Average Excellent

There is no Your introduction Your introduction Your introduction
introduction states the purpose states the purpose clearly states the
INTRODUCTION (1-3 points) of the lab, but not of the lab and the purpose of the lab
the variables that variables to be and you explicitly
will be studied. studied. state the
(4-6 points) (7-8 points) variables that are to
be
studied.
(9-10 points)
MATERIALS List is complete for List is complete but List is complete but List is complete for
an accurate quantities not quantities not an accurate
replication of the always there or always there or replication of the
experiment. List missing completely. missing completely. experiment. List
includes quantitative (4-6 points) (7-8 points) includes
measurements using quantitative
the metric system. measurements
(1-3 points) using the metric
system.
(9-10 points)
EXPERIMENTAL This part of the Needs more steps Logical sequence Written as though
PROCEDURES report is missing or for the lab to be but missing steps. giving directions.
doesn't provide reliable. Some incomplete Written in complete
enough learning Needs complete sentences. The sentences.
evidence. sentences. Model model or diagram Are complete with
(0-9 points) isn't used when it that is used is no steps missing. A
would have been an incomplete or model or diagram is
obvious addition. distracting. used as needed.
(10-11 points) (12-13 points) (14-15 points)
DATA AND Observations are Observations are Observations are Observations are
RESULTS incomplete and somewhat complete. Drawings concise, complete
lacking detail. incomplete and are included when and descriptive.
(1 point) lacking detail. necessary. Drawings are
(4-6 points) (7-8 points) included as
necessary and are
well labeled.
(9-10 points)
No photographs or Less than 2 photos Less than 3 photos Three or more
pictures. or pictures. Not or pictures. Pictures photos or pictures.
 PHOTOGRAPHS/ (1-3 points) related to the are related to Pictures are directly
PICTURES question. Hand problem statement. related to or actual
drawn. Pictures of difficult pictures of the
(4-6 points) to see, out of focus procedures. Neat, in
or too small. focus and
(7-8 points) appropriately sized.
(9-10 points)
No conclusion was Conclusion includes Conclusion includes Conclusion includes
included in the report what was learned whether the findings whether the findings
CONCLUSION OR shows little effort from the supported the supported the
and reflection. experiment. hypothesis and what hypothesis, possible
(1-3 points) (4-6 points) was learned from sources of error,
the experiment. and what was
(7-8 points) learned from the
experiment.
(9-10 points)

Guide questions rubric:

General Scoring Rubric

5 Close to 100 – 96% of the questions are correct or on point. Very well
thought out responses.
4 About 95% - 91% of the questions are correct or on point. Well thought
out.
3 About 90% - 86% of the questions are accurate or on point. Fairly well
thought out.
2 85 % - 81% % Less than half of the questions are properly answered
with little thought.
1 80% - 75% Gives no new information and very poorly organized.
0 No answer.