You want the material to be extracted to be relatively soluble in the solvent.
advantage solvent more dense than water: The solvent will be the bottom layer and can be drained "from the bottom" of a separatory funnel. The "leavings" will be at the top and can stay in the funnel and extracted a second or third (or more) times.
disadvantages of solvent more dense:If you want to KEEP the water layer, it will be on top and must be poured from the top of the funnel which is never an easy procedure and usually results in some cross contamination between water and extract.
a) What properties are important for a solvent to be used to extract a compound from an aqueous solution?
b) When carrying out an extraction what are the advantages/disadvantages of having your extraction solution more/less dense than water?
Thank you!
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