Vial3 Case Study

The results in Table 1 illustrate the densities of each vial containing ethanol. Vial 1 had a density of 0.95g/mL, Vial 2 had a density of 0.82g/mL, and Vial 3 had a density of 0.74g/mL. Density is the relationship between the mass of the substance and how much space it takes up, or the volume. The densities got lower from the first vial to the last because less product was being produced.

The results in Table 2 illustrate the percent ethanol concentrations of each vial containing ethanol. Vial 1 had a 27.5% ethanol concentration, Vial 2 had 30%, and Vial 3’s percent ethanol concentration could not be calculated due to too much water being in the vial. The percent ethanol concentration determines how much ethanol is present in each vial. Each vial has a mixture containing ethanol and water. The densities of each vial were used to find the percent ethanol concentration based on a graph. The percent ethanol concentrations got higher from the first vial to the last. Vial 3 had too high of a percent ethanol concentration to calculate from the graph. This was due to too much water being in
In the fermentation unit, ethanol was being produced but so was water. The higher the temperature of the fermentation was the more water was being produced instead of ethanol. The temperature of the fermentation had to be specific so that less water was produced and more ethanol was produced. Another error was the accuracy of the scales. After weighing the vials, the scales would be tarred and cause an inaccurate reading for the following weighing of the vials. This made the measurements not match up and caused incorrect calculations. However, this was noticed and resolved for some calculations but not all. Also, oil from the hands got on the vials and that caused more weight to be on the vials. This resulted in higher measurements that were incorrect. Wearing gloves will prevent this from