Methanoic acid mixes with water in all proportions and has about the same boiling point as water which of the following methods would you adopt to obtain pure water from a mixture of stand, water and methanoic acid?
- fractional distillation
- filtration followed by distillation
- neutralization with sodium hydroxide followed by distillation
- esterification with ethanol followed by distillation
-
neutralization with sodium hydroxide followed by filtration
The correct answer is: E
Explanation
Water added to an acid decreases its pH, hence, methanoic acid and water (azeotropes with very close boiling points) will be more acidic. Hence, addition of sodium hydroxide forms a salt and water. Then filtration can be done easily.