Why is it not a good idea to use a large excess of activated ...

[theo]

Why is it not a good idea to use a large excess of activated carbon to remove colored impurities?

Question 2

One explanation for the fact that the color from the brown sugar solution has diminished or disappeared is that all of the material (including the sugar) is adsorbed onto the activated carbon. With the equipment available in the lab, how could you determine if this did or did not happen?

[abro1885]

Answer to Question 1

Some of the desired product will be adsorbed onto the activated carbon, thereby decreasing the overall amount of material recovered from the recrystallization.

Answer to Question 2

The easiest thing to do would be to first filter the solution, removing the charcoal, and then boil off the water and see if anything is left. Other reasonable answers are also fine. For example, some students have suggested that they would isolate the charcoal and weigh it to see if its original weight had increased by the amount of brown sugar used.

[theo]

TY

[abro1885]

You're welcome