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General Science / Lab Question: Why won't stearic acid dissolve in vegetable oil?
« on: 20/09/2019 10:08:13 »
Hi!
This question was from a lab a few days ago. Stearic acid (octadecanoic acid) was observed to not dissolve in water (makes sense because water is polar and stearic acid is not really) but the acid also didn't dissolve in vegetable oil, which doesn't make too much sense because they are both non-polar. Everything was done in small quantities (1g stearic acid in 5 mL water or oil) and at room temperature. Any idea why? I'm thinking it might be because of that carboxyl group at the end of the stearic acid that makes is slightly polar. Thanks in advance!
This question was from a lab a few days ago. Stearic acid (octadecanoic acid) was observed to not dissolve in water (makes sense because water is polar and stearic acid is not really) but the acid also didn't dissolve in vegetable oil, which doesn't make too much sense because they are both non-polar. Everything was done in small quantities (1g stearic acid in 5 mL water or oil) and at room temperature. Any idea why? I'm thinking it might be because of that carboxyl group at the end of the stearic acid that makes is slightly polar. Thanks in advance!