Applied science unit 4 b, making a nail polish remover

Khansa Zahid

Id number: 40176861

Unit 4: Laboratory Techniques and their application

Learning aim B

Making a nail varnish remover

, 1. P3
1.1 Introduction
The ester I made in this experiment was ethyl ethanoate. The reaction of an alcohol and a
carboxylic acid will produce an ester with water. When an alcohol and an acid react, this
process is called esterification. This is a reversible reaction and also uses a catalyst, in this
case sulphuric acid, to speed up the reaction. Esters have a functional group –COO. The
main uses of esters are cosmetics, perfumes, food flavouring and more. Some volatile esters
can be used for paints and varnishes.

The lab report is going to cover the following areas:

 The chemical reactions involved in the production of ethyl ethanoate
 The calculations involved in determining the amount of ethyl ethanoate produced
theoretically and percentage yield
 The method of producing ethyl ethanoate in laboratory
 The method of producing ethyl ethanoate in industry
 Comparison of techniques and their impact on purity and yield
 Testing the purity of ethyl ethanoate and commenting on the reliability of these tests.
 Conclusion



1.2 Chemical reaction
I investigated the production of the ester ethyl ethanoate. Ethyl ethanoate is produced by
reacting ethanoic acid with ethanol. This not only produces ethyl ethanoate but also water.

Sulphuric acid

CH3COOH + C2H5OH CH3OOC2H5 + H2O


Sulphuric acid

Ethanoic acid + ethanol ethyl ethanoate + water