Exploring The Theory Of Separation Of Strong Acid

Acid-Base extraction theory states that when an acid reacts with an organic base it results in a salt that is water-soluble and a neutral molecule that is insoluble. The addition of an acid to a mixture containing acids and bases will result in the acid remaining unchanged and the base reacting to form a salt. The results from the experiment were fairly consistent when separating the strong acid, weak acid, or the base. In part one of the experiment, you had to separate the strong acid. When added to the ether, two layers of solution occurred. The top layer was the ether layer that produced an orange colour; while the bottom layer was the NaHCO3 extract which produced a white translucent layer. Therefore, this is consistent with the theory.
This is also consistent with the theory because the solvents were immiscible which resulted in them separating. Part four of the experiment was isolating the neutral compound. This resulted in mixing the ether with anhydrous sodium sulfate, which is a neutral salt. The sodium sulfate was needed to remove the water from the ether layer so that the ether could evaporate. This left the remaining neutral compound. In part five of the experiment the weak acid had to be isolated by adding HCl to the NaOH extract. When the HCl was added the NaOH extract became a cloudy and thick liquid. When drying the solution, the solid was a pale pink clay material. This was consistent with the theory because with added HCl the NaOH is protonated forming a salt that is soluble in an aqueous solution. Part six of the experiment was similar to part five, however, the drying time of the strong acid was much faster and produced a powder type solid than the weak acid. Finally, part seven of the experiment was the isolation of the base, which was done by adding NaOH to the HCl extract. When the NaOH was added the solution became a white colour and when it dried it formed small