Howlers of the week 1997-8
These are all genuine sentences and paragraphs that were written by students in their write-ups for the (now defunct) 2nd year practical on Solubilities in Toluene. Remember that all spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and errors of logic are all entirely theirs, and have been reproduced exactly as they appeared on the student's script.
- For the Naphthalene solution, the magnitued of the...
- ...as there is no great change in disorderness when the solution is created.
- Repeation of the experimental readings would reduce anomaleyes in the data.
- This could be measured using a visible spectrometer.
- The experiment could be improved if more expensive equipment was used, something
like a water bath, and something to automatically stir it with, like a magnetic
stirrer, and something to see the crystals with, like a laser, that's expensive.
- The main error in this experiment was determination of the melting point, due to human limits.
- Other sources of error included human incapability to read a scale correctly...
- This is accomplished by measuring their melting points, and then by manipulating the data, the solubilities may be determined.
- On their own, the only intermolecular forces are weak Van der Waals forces.
- When the naphthalene is dissolved in toluene the solution created is very similar.
- For this experiment to be done accurate, sensitive apparatus that could detect exactly
when the crystals formed and at what temperature. Experiment that could raise and lower
the temperature by very small amounts so the temperature as the crystal reforming would
be exact.
- The shape of the graph is a curve, which curves away from the first curve.
- ...therefore there is little change in the energy change and entropy change.
- I also noticed that crystals started to crystallize out onto the glass stirring rod.
To eliminate this, I would heat the glass rod up in a bunsen flame before putting it
into the toluene solution.
- The calculated line is very similar to the experimental line. Both can be decribed
as linear and with very closed gradients.
- The experiment could also be repeated several times to gain accuracy (and to spend more money!).
- For phenylacetic acid the first value for ln x is not given because it goes off the graph and is liable to be an error anyway.
- The pure naphthalene is placed in a test tube and then in a beaker of boiling
water and it melted.
- The theory of an ideal solution is similar to the gas, i.e. it does not interact with its particles.
- The experimental innaccuracies are due to the main sauces.
- Another way to improve the accuracy of the experiment is to use computers, as they don't get bored and can work unsocial hours of the day.