Cyclohexane is a cycloalkane with the molecular formula C6H12. It is a colourless, flammable liquid with a distinctive detergent-like odor, reminiscent of cleaning products. It is mainly used for the industrial production of adipic acid and caprolactam, which are precursors to nylon. Cyclohexane is also used as a solvent for various organic compounds, such as cellulose ethers, lacquers, resins, fats, waxes, oils, bitumen and crude rubber. But is cyclohexane soluble in water? In this blog post, we will answer this question and explain the factors that affect the solubility of cyclohexane in water.
Solubility of Cyclohexane in Water
Solubility is the ability of a substance to dissolve in another substance. The solubility of a substance depends on several factors, such as temperature, pressure, polarity and intermolecular forces. Polarity is the uneven distribution of electric charge in a molecule, which results in partial positive and negative regions. Intermolecular forces are the attractive or repulsive forces between molecules.
Water is a polar molecule, meaning that it has a partial negative charge on the oxygen atom and a partial positive charge on the hydrogen atoms. Water molecules are held together by strong hydrogen bonds, which are a type of intermolecular force that occurs between molecules that have hydrogen atoms bonded to highly electronegative atoms, such as oxygen, nitrogen or fluorine.
Cyclohexane is a non-polar molecule, meaning that it has no permanent electric dipole moment. Cyclohexane molecules are held together by weak dispersion forces, which are a type of intermolecular force that occurs between all molecules due to temporary fluctuations in their electron clouds.
According to the principle of “like dissolves like”, substances that have similar polarity and intermolecular forces tend to be soluble in each other. Therefore, polar substances are more likely to dissolve in polar solvents, such as water, and non-polar substances are more likely to dissolve in non-polar solvents, such as cyclohexane.
Based on this principle, we can predict that cyclohexane is not very soluble in water, because it has different polarity and intermolecular forces than water. In fact, cyclohexane is slightly soluble in water at room temperature and pressure. According to Wikipedia , cyclohexane has a solubility of 0.0059 g/100 mL in water at 25 °C. This means that only about 0.006 grams of cyclohexane can dissolve in 100 mL of water at 25 °C.
Factors Affecting the Solubility of Cyclohexane in Water
The solubility of cyclohexane in water can change depending on the temperature and pressure of the system. Generally speaking, the solubility of gases in liquids decreases with increasing temperature and increases with increasing pressure. The solubility of solids and liquids in liquids can increase or decrease with increasing temperature depending on the nature of the solute and solvent. The solubility of solids and liquids in liquids is usually not affected by pressure unless the volume change is significant.
For cyclohexane and water, the solubility of cyclohexane in water decreases with increasing temperature and increases with increasing pressure. This is because cyclohexane has a lower boiling point than water (80.74 °C vs 100 °C) and a higher density than water (0.7739 g/mL vs 0.997 g/mL). Therefore, increasing the temperature reduces the amount of cyclohexane that can stay dissolved in water due to increased vaporization. Increasing the pressure increases the amount of cyclohexane that can stay dissolved in water due to decreased volume.
The table below shows some data on the solubility of cyclohexane in water at different temperatures and pressures .
| Temperature (°C) | Pressure (atm) | Solubility (g/100 mL) |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | 0.0078 |
| 20 | 1 | 0.0065 |
| 30 | 1 | 0.0056 |
| 40 | 1 | 0.0049 |
| 50 | 1 | 0.0043 |
| 60 | 1 | 0.0038 |
| 70 | 1 | 0.0034 |
| 80 | 1 | 0.0030 |
| 20 | 2 | 0.0129 |
| 20 | 3 | 0.0194 |
| 20 | 4 | 0.0258 |
| 20 | 5 | 0.0323 |
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