Dumas method of molecular weight determination
The Dumas method of molecular weight determination was historically a procedure used to determine the molecular weight of an unknown volatile substance.[1][2]
The method was designed by the French chemist Jean Baptiste André Dumas, after whom the procedure is now named. Dumas used the method to determine the vapour densities of elements (mercury, phosphorus, sulfur) and inorganic compounds.[3]
Today, modern methods such as mass spectrometry and elemental analysis are used to determine the molecular weight of a substance.
Determination
[edit]The procedure entailed placing a small quantity of the unknown substance into a tared vessel of known volume. The vessel is then heated to a known temperature, such as in a boiling water bath, causing the entire sample to vaporize and completely displace the air from the vessel. The vessel is then sealed, such as with a flame to melt the neck of a glass flask, dried, and re-weighed. By subtracting the tare of the vessel, the actual mass of the unknown vapor within the vessel can be calculated.
Assuming the unknown compound behaves as an ideal gas, the number of moles of the unknown compound, n, can be determined by using the ideal gas law,
where the pressure, p, is the atmospheric pressure, V is the measured volume of the vessel, T is the absolute temperature of the hot bath, and R is the gas constant.
The molecular weight of the chemical is then simply the mass in grams of the vapor within the vessel divided by the calculated number of mole.
Assumptions
[edit]Two major assumptions are used in this method:
- The compound vapor behaves as an ideal gas (follows all 5 postulates of the kinetic theory of gases)
- Either the volume of the vessel does not vary significantly between room temperature and the working temperature, or the volume of the vessel may be accurately determined at the working temperature
See also
[edit]- Victor Meyer apparatus
- Cryoscopy and ebullioscopy, two other methods for the determination of molecular weights
References
[edit]- ^ Darrell Ebbing; Steven D. Gammon (12 January 2007). General Chemistry: Media Enhanced Edition. Cengage Learning. pp. 192–. ISBN 0-618-73879-7.
- ^ Frank Brescia (2 December 2012). Fundamentals of Chemistry: Laboratory Studies. Elsevier Science. pp. 75–. ISBN 978-0-323-16215-9.
- ^ "Dumas vapor density". web.lemoyne.edu. Retrieved 2016-03-11.
Further reading
[edit]- Kaya, Julie J.; Campbell, J. Arthur (1967). "Molecular weights from Dumas bulb experiments". Journal of Chemical Education. 44 (7): 394. Bibcode:1967JChEd..44..394K. doi:10.1021/ed044p394.
- Grider, Douglas J.; Tobiason, Joseph D.; Tobiason, Fred L. (1988). "Molecular weight determination by an improved temperature monitored vapor density method". Journal of Chemical Education. 65 (7): 641. Bibcode:1988JChEd..65..641G. doi:10.1021/ed065p641.
External links
[edit]- https://web.archive.org/web/20091229043650/http://chemlabs.uoregon.edu/Classes/Exton/CH228/Dumas.pdf
- https://web.archive.org/web/20100820010803/http://wwwchem.csustan.edu/chem1102/molwt.htm
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