Today we first worked out the approximate molecular weight of the Soybean oil molecule as well as the other molecules involved in the reactions. Then we worked out the recipe for making biodiesel.
The first image is our biodiesel in a separation pipette after it reacted with an excess amount of methanol as well as dissolved Potassium hydroxide as a catalyst. At this point the biodiesel is separating from the methanol and glycerin due to the differing densities. The second image is after we syphoned off the methanol and glycerin, we added 100 mL of H2O to "wash" the biodiesel, that is removing any compounds that are dissolved in water. Since Biodiesel is an oil, it separates from the water.
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