[d.lam.86]

I witnessed a demonstration lab yesterday where different alcohols of varying molecular weights were poured on filter papers wrapped around a data-collecting sensor probe. The alcohols vaporized at room temperature (27.4°C) and the initial and final (the lowest) temperatures were recorded along with the time that it took to evaporate.

Now, I have been assigned the task of calculating the evaporation rate. I was planning on finding the change in temperature and then dividing that by the time duration (°C/s), but I've been wondering: is that the same thing as the boiling point of the alcohols? I also don't know why I was not told of what the mass of the alcohols used were, so do you think that it's significant that I know this value?

I have also been assigned the task to do an error analysis but I'm not sure which values to take in as actual ones determined experimentally by say the MSDS.

Thanks in advance!

[Controlled Substance]

Now, I have been assigned the task of calculating the evaporation rate. I was planning on finding the change in temperature and then dividing that by the time duration (°C/s), but I've been wondering: is that the same thing as the boiling point of the alcohols? I also don't know why I was not told of what the mass of the alcohols used were, so do you think that it's significant that I know this value?

I don't quite get how the experiment worked, but I'll give it a shot:

-You should visualize the evaporation rate as a measure of matter "disappearing" over time. (g/s or mol/s)
-Temperature/time units don't seem related to this problem imho.
-The "Evaporation" article on Wikipedia might help you; there are many factors that influence boiling points.
-Don't think you need the mass either.

Were you given any other information? Have you encountered inter-molecular forces yet?

My 2 cents.

[Borek]

Please elaborate on the experiment and data registered, right now it seems like mission impossible.

[Controlled Substance]

There must have been something common to all alcohols right? Like constant volume, mass, moles... Seeing as they all were under the same conditions and you have nothing else to distinguish them by.
If you walked into the demo late you may have missed that part! 

Or maybe your teacher deliberately kept this a secret and just wants you to calculate each rate relative to the other alcohols?  For example, if you had alcohols A-E, which took 16, 60, 22, 7, 34 (minutes) respectively to evaporate, you can express them as ratios of one another. For example, take B (or whichever) and you can say: the rate of A is 60/16 times that of B, rate of C is 60/22 times that of B, etc...
Seems likely he will later give you the identity of each alcohol, and compare how their structures and size affect their boiling point.