MOLECULAR WEIGHT APPARATUS FOR USE IN GENERAL CHEMISTRY DAVID L. RANDALL Albion College, Albion, Michigan
SOME of the difficulties that arise when students of general chemistry undertake to determine the molecular weight of a volatile liquid are avoided by the use of a glass bulb with two side tubes as represented in the accompanying figure. The liquids can be easily introduced and removed and the problems that arise from the use of a flask equipped with corks or rubber stoppers are avoided. In order to carry out a determination an excess of the liquid to be studied is introduced into a tared bulb, the bulb heated in a boiling water bath, and the weight of liquid remaining determined, as is also the volume of the bulb. The molecular weight is calculated by the use of the gas laws and the determination of the weight of a gram molecular volume of the substance in the gaseous state.
