Flame Drying Glassware

Every spring at Georgetown University my students and I investigate the challenge of excluding moisture and problematic components of the atmosphere in the Organic Chemistry lab.  We run a Grignard reaction and take all of the usual steps to exclude water from our reaction setups (atmosphere, organic solvents and, yes, glassware!).  This year I finally checked a box that I had put on my list many years ago: creating an animation that shows exactly how and why the surface of glass can hold large amounts of water, even when it appears dry to the human eye!

I also included some relevant footage from the lab taken last year.  In my lab footage, I flame dry a round-bottomed flask.  It is positively beautiful to watch the eliminated water re-condensing on the cooler parts of the glass until the flask is completely dried.  I was even able to weigh the dried flask as it slowly sequestered moisture from the atmosphere and gained mass, allowing me to approximate how much moisture was removed!  Any instructors our there who are interested in using this footage in their classroom, please contact me through the form on my website for permission and a high-res video file!

Next up on my YouTube channel is a follow-up video about removal of water from organic solvents using molecular sieves.