Microwaveable solvents

By Declan Fleming2013-09-02T00:00:00

Source: © Declan Fleming

Demonstrating solvent polarity using a microwave oven

A common experiment involves holding an electrostatically charged rod or balloon near to the streams from burettes filled with a variety of solvents. This demonstrates how polar the solvent is. You can perform a similar experiment to show how the polarity of a solvent affects how efficiently a microwave oven can heat it. This effect can be exploited by chemists allowing for more efficient heating of reactants in solution - reactions can often be far quicker and more selective under microwave conditions.

With accompanying video and a link to an article to aid discussion, Declan Fleming demonstrates how to set up and teach a solvent polarity demonstration.

Thanks for using Education in Chemistry. You can view one Education in Chemistry article per month as a visitor.

A photograph of a teacher standing in a white lab coat, speaking with a class of children in a laboratory, is superimposed on a colourful background. Text reads "Teach Chemistry means support for classroom and staff room".

Register for Teach Chemistry for free, unlimited access

Registration is open to all teachers and technicians at secondary schools, colleges and teacher training institutions in the UK and Ireland.

Get all this, plus much more:

unlimited access to resources, core practical videos and Education in Chemistry articles
teacher well-being toolkit, personal development resources and online assessments
applications for funding to support your lessons

Set up your Teach Chemistry account

Already a Teach Chemistry member? Sign in now.

Not eligible for Teach Chemistry? Sign up for a personal account instead, or you can also access all our resources with Royal Society of Chemistry membership.