First the steam distillation apparatus was constructed. In a 250mL round bottom flask, 20mL of water (H20) and turpentine were mixed. Turpentine was used so that alpha-pinene, one of its components could be extracted. Water was used in the mixture because it ensures a lower boiling point of turpentine. Combining the vapor pressure from the water and the turpentine lowers the boiling point. The only disadvantage to this procedure is that in the end, water will be distilled more in the distillate. The level of the 40mL of mixture was marked on the side of the flask with a permanent marker. This was done to make sure the mixture level was maintai
ned throughout the experiment. Distilled water was put in the separatory funnel to replace the water that would be lost during distillation. A Bunsen burner was placed under the round bottom flask containing the mixture, and the flame was turned on. On the apparatus, there was a thermometer. The temperature was watched carefully throughout the experiment to ensure that the temperature in the flask did not exceed 100 degrees Celsius, which is the boiling point of water.
Distilled water was continuously added from the separatory funnel into the round bottom flask over the flame, to keep the mixture in the flask over the flame at the originally marked (40mL mix) level. The flask was continuously heated until the distillate went from cloudy to clear. To
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