To start making our moisturizer we came up with a guiding question to start us off. Our question was, "How do we extract flowers to make a natural moisturizer?". In order to do that we decided on which flower to use. We wanted it to have a nice smell but not too strong that it will irritate the skin. Lavender has a sweet and calming smell to it and we thought that it would be great for our moisturizer. The first step we took was to pour about half of the loose lavender into a round-bottom flask and fill it up half way with water. Andrew then helped us put together an apparatus. An apparatus is a combination of tools and machinery to demonstrate an experiment. The first time we put this together we used a fractionating column that is connected to the flask and the other end to a tube that collects the oil in another flask. We were able to collect little amount of oil and mostly hydrosol. The next day we used a different column which was called a 'vigreux column'. That worked a lot easier and faster. We collected again a small amount of oil but we made it work.
The first time we tried the extraction, the top of the column kept bubbling which made the liquid take a while to drip into the flask. This process took about two hours the first time and we noticed that the type of column affected it. The second time around we made sure to use a different column and a bigger round-bottom flask. I noticed that it didn't take much for it to warm up as opposed to the smaller one. At the end of each extraction we looked at what we collected. Most of that liquid was hydrosol. I was surprised at the amount of oil we got because it wasn't very much at all. I was expecting to gather a lot more than what we have. Patience is key when working with this type of equipment.
I am proud of what we achieved in this process but I feel like we didn't get the results we wanted. Brianna and I came into this project pretty confidently, but it wasn't till we started the process that we noticed how much work it was going to take. I expected to get a wide amount of oil out of the lavender and when I found out that most of it was hydrosol I was definitely shocked. I think that we did everything we could, but when experimenting you don't know what your end result is. So I think for our first time trying this out I thought it went okay. If we were to do this again I would definitely be more prepared. Lavender is a very small plant and I think with any other one we could have gotten better results.
Brianna and I decided to work together on this independent project. We both had interest in making an all natural moisturizer. I think that we worked very well together. I wasn't so difficult to make decisions along the way. I now think that Brianna and I have more knowledge of how to extract oils and became more familiar with the glassware we were using. I believe that our partnership worked very well and I look forward to working with her in small projects like this again.
If I could do this again I would gather more information about which flowers contain the most oils. I would be more organized with my knowledge of this. I would love to work with someone new for the next lab activity. I think that working with your friends is great but once in a while working with someone new is always a good opportunity to see how others work. I would defiantly want to continue this process, I think that making perfume would be fun. I'd find more interesting ways to use essential oils.
I think that I definitely gained techniques and skills from this. I had no idea on how to extract oils from flowers before. Coming into Chemistry I had never known the names of the glass wear or how to use them properly. Since we did this experiment twice I now know to use a vigreux column and a large round-bottom flask. I thought this was a great first lab project to do in this semester and I am looking forward to making more amazing products.
I am proud of what we achieved in this process but I feel like we didn't get the results we wanted. Brianna and I came into this project pretty confidently, but it wasn't till we started the process that we noticed how much work it was going to take. I expected to get a wide amount of oil out of the lavender and when I found out that most of it was hydrosol I was definitely shocked. I think that we did everything we could, but when experimenting you don't know what your end result is. So I think for our first time trying this out I thought it went okay. If we were to do this again I would definitely be more prepared. Lavender is a very small plant and I think with any other one we could have gotten better results.
Brianna and I decided to work together on this independent project. We both had interest in making an all natural moisturizer. I think that we worked very well together. I wasn't so difficult to make decisions along the way. I now think that Brianna and I have more knowledge of how to extract oils and became more familiar with the glassware we were using. I believe that our partnership worked very well and I look forward to working with her in small projects like this again.
If I could do this again I would gather more information about which flowers contain the most oils. I would be more organized with my knowledge of this. I would love to work with someone new for the next lab activity. I think that working with your friends is great but once in a while working with someone new is always a good opportunity to see how others work. I would defiantly want to continue this process, I think that making perfume would be fun. I'd find more interesting ways to use essential oils.
I think that I definitely gained techniques and skills from this. I had no idea on how to extract oils from flowers before. Coming into Chemistry I had never known the names of the glass wear or how to use them properly. Since we did this experiment twice I now know to use a vigreux column and a large round-bottom flask. I thought this was a great first lab project to do in this semester and I am looking forward to making more amazing products.