3
$\begingroup$

I am not really a chemist guy so please bear with me. Glycerol monolaurate has an upper limit of solubility in water of 20 μg/mL, which is enough for my experiment. Does this mean that no matter how much glycerol monolaurate I add to water the concentration will always stay at 20 μg/mL? Glycerol monolaurate is in powder form so does this mean that the powder would flow on top of water and the concentration of 20 μg/mL glycerol monolaurate would be in the water below?

Thanks.

|improve this question
$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

Q1) If 20 micrograms / ml is the upper solubility limit and you added less than 20 micrograms the solution could be less concentrated but a concentration higher than 20 micrograms / ml H2O can't be achieved.

Q2) No more than 20 micrograms of glycerol monolaurate will dissolve in 1 ml of water so if more than 20 micrograms was added the remaining undissolved powder would stay separated in some way (eg. precipitate) which could be filtered (as @MaxW has stated), or a colloidal suspension could also form. If more than 20 micrograms / ml were to be used the supernatant (GML/H2O layer) could be estimated to be 20 micrograms/ml) after filtration.

|improve this answer
$\endgroup$
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ It seems that the density is just below 1.00 for glycerol monolaurate , so the undissolved portion will float. If it had a very fine particle size you might be able to get some sort of colloidal suspension. // There real notion here is two phases if you add more than 20 micrograms per mL. A liquid phase that contains water and the dissolved glycerol monolaurate, and a solid phase that is the undissolved solid glycerol monolaurate. $\endgroup$ – MaxW Apr 11 '16 at 22:01
  • $\begingroup$ @MaxW yes I agree, I haven't made this solution before so I don't know if it separates cleanly or not. Ill edit the emulsion part (: $\endgroup$ – Technetium Apr 11 '16 at 22:08
  • $\begingroup$ You can't really "emulsify" a solid. An emulsion is for two liquids. So the excess solid either floats, sinks, or forms a colloidal suspension - or possibly some combination due to particle size variations, wettability, and surface tension. $\endgroup$ – MaxW Apr 11 '16 at 22:17
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @MaxW yes the colloidal suspension was what I meant .. $\endgroup$ – Technetium Apr 12 '16 at 2:57
  • $\begingroup$ Thanks MaxW and Joel. The below poster stated that the concentration will increase. I assume this is wrong? $\endgroup$ – Nakute Marato Apr 12 '16 at 12:18

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.