Answer to Question #60353 in Organic Chemistry for rutvik

Question

Student performs experiment in the lab. When he mixed hexane and water, he found two layers are formed; explain which is upper and which is lower layer. Then he mixed chloroform with water, again two layers are formed; explain which is lower and which is upper layer.

Answer 1

When two immiscible liquids are mixed together, the less dense layers is a top layer and the more dense layer forms the bottom layer.
The densities of the solvents are given below:
Water – 1000 kg/m3;
Hexane – 655 kg/m3;
Chloroform – 1490 kg/m3.
Therefore, when hexane and water are mixed, the upper layer is hexane, because hexane is less dense. When chloroform and water are mixed, the upper layer is water, because water is less dense.