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A Colligative Property Experiment using the Solvent Paraffin Wax

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Conference

2023 ASEE North Central Section Conference

Location

Morgantown, West Virginia

Publication Date

March 24, 2023

Start Date

March 24, 2023

End Date

March 25, 2023

Tagged Topic

Diversity

Page Count

9

DOI

10.18260/1-2--44934

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/44934

Download Count

199

Paper Authors

biography

Tarek Rafic Farhat West Virginia University Institute of Technology

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Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Chemistry
West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Physical Sciences Department
Physical Sciences Building, Room 210C
Beckley, WV. 25801
Phone: (304) 929-1356
E-mail: tarek.farhat@mail.wvu.edu
SUMMARY
A scientist with more than 12 years of teaching experience in chemistry. Hold a PhD (USA) in Analytical/Materials Chemistry, MSc (Canada) in Physical Chemistry, and BSc (UK) in Chemistry.
COURSES AT WVU-TECH:
Lecture courses: PHSC101, CHEM215, CHEM310, CHEM422, CHEM451
Lab courses: CHEM111L, CHEM115L, CHEM116L, PHSC101L, CHEM215L, CHEM313L, CHEM422L

EDUCATION
07/2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Paula Hammond), Cambridge, MA. Post-doctorate, PEM Fuel cells, “NANOMATERIALS IN THE DESIGN OF SOFT FUEL CELL MODULES”
12/2002 Florida State University (Joseph Schlenoff) Tallahassee, FL
PhD, Analytical/Materials Chemistry, Title of Thesis: “ION TRANSPORT IN POLYELECTROLYTE MULTILAYER MEMBRANES: ELECTROCHEMICAL, SPECTROSCOPIC, AND COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS”
11/1993 University of Victoria (David Harrington), Victoria, BC, CANADA. MSc, Electrochemistry, Title of thesis: “KINETICS OF HYDROGEN/IODINE UNDER POTENTIAL DEPOSITION ON POLYCRYSTALLINE PLATINUM”
7/1990 University of Greenwich (Thames Polytechnic), London, UK
BSc, First Class Honors, Chemistry
6/1986 West Thames College (Hounslow Borough College), London, UK, GCE A-levels, Chemistry-Physics-Biology
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
08/13/2021 – Present Tenure Track Assistant professor of Chemistry, WVU-Tech, Beckley, WV, USA
8/2020 – 5/2021 Visiting Chemistry Faculty (Lecture/Lab), WVU-Tech, Beckley, WV, USA
5/2019 – 8/2020 Academic Lab Manager, WVU-Tech, Beckley, WV, USA
12/2018 – 4/2019 Online Chemistry Instructor, Grand Canyon University, AZ, USA
01/2018 –5/2018 Visiting Chemistry Faculty (Lecture/Lab), West Virginia University, Keyser, WV, USA
08/2016 –6/2017 Visiting Chemistry Faculty (Lecture/Lab), Penn State University, Fayette, USA
6/2015 –8/2016 Chemistry Faculty (Lecture/Lab), Southwest Tennessee Community College, Memphis, USA
5/2007–10/2016 Technical Consultancy (Project and Technology Development), Industrial
8/2005– 8/2011 University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
Assistant Professor, Analytical/Materials/Inorganic Chemistry
1/2003-7/2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Postdoctoral Research Associate
8/1999-12/2002 Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
Research Assistant, Chemistry/Analytical Materials

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Hasan El Rifai

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Rana Mouhamad Jisr

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Abstract

In this educational lab project, we propose using paraffin wax as an alternative organic solvent to those used in academic labs to demonstrate the concept of freezing point depression. We opted to use paraffin wax pellets as an organic solvent because many schools worldwide do not have the resources and access to purchase specialty chemicals. Paraffin wax is readily available to schools, safe to use, non-toxic, does not release a pungent or irritating smell, and yields reproducible results and trends. Data was gathered from at least fifty Chemistry Lab reports and assessed statistically against data obtained under controlled conditions. The Freezing point depression constant Kf (i.e. freezing point constant) of commercial paraffin wax is not available in the literature and our experimental analysis yielded a reproducible range of Kf = 5.0 to 5.5 oC.kg/mol at a melting point of 54 oC. We picked Benzophenone and Naphthalene (i.e. mothballs) as two compatible nonpolar solutes that worked well with the solvent paraffin wax.

Farhat, T. R., & El Rifai, H., & Jisr, R. M. (2023, March), A Colligative Property Experiment using the Solvent Paraffin Wax Paper presented at 2023 ASEE North Central Section Conference, Morgantown, West Virginia. 10.18260/1-2--44934

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