[UpbeatWhiz]

I did a lab and they asked us to distillate ethanol out of our crude product, then add ethyl acetate. Finally wash it with water in an extraction.  

All fine and dandy but why do you remove the ethanol before doing the Wash? They told us to think about solubulities but what I thought was even if the Ethanol dissolved into the water wouldn't it just be extracted out in its layer?

The exact question is: You were asked to remove the ethanol before the washing step. Why is it necessary to remove the ethanol before adding the ethyl acetate and water? Support your claim. Hint: think of solubilities.

[fledarmus]

1) When you put water in ethanol, do the liquids separate?

2) When you put ethyl acetate in ethanol, do the liquids separate?

3) When you put both water and ethyl acetate in ethanol, would you expect the liquids to separate?