The goal of the project was to characterize an "unknown" organic acid in order to make a proper identification of the acid, while learning proper techniques for scientific measurement and analysis of error.

In order to ensure the most accurate data, a purification was performed by the process of recrystallization. To perform the recrystallization the powder was dissolved in a minimal amount of hot ethanol/H2O solvent that allowed the unknown powder to crystallize properly when cooled. This process allowed for the removal of soluble impurities when suction filtered. A sample of the unknown acid was weighed at 8.24 g, and it was found that 164ml of a 40% ethanol, 60% H20 solvent dissolved the 8.24 g of unknown acid when heated. The beaker containing the dissolved acid was then placed in a beaker containing ice, allowing the unknown acid to recrystallized. After vacuum filtration, the recovered unknown was dried and...