Question

What is a drying agent? When do you use it? What is the drying agent used in the lab? How much drying agent do you use? It has been suggested that drying agents can be collected after an experiment and the hydrated salt heated in an oven to drive off the water. The recycled drying agent can then be used again for another experiment. Is this a good idea? Give advantages and disadvantages of this proposal.

Answer 1

drying agent is nothing but some anhydride salt that can take moisture or minimum amount water droplets from your irganic layer after work up is called drying agent?

when your you are separating the organic layer from water that organic layer will have some amount of wtaer droplets inorder to remove those water droplets we used to use drying agents

examples anhydrous sodium sulphate Na2SO4

anhydrous magnesium sulphate MgSO4

this need not weight but you can observe soppose your wet organic layer is in conical

if you add any driyng agent to that it should move freely in the solvent if it is not moving freely means that is not sufficient we have to add somemore

yes you can use it in recycling but

bfore reusing any organic substance should not be there to that salt because you will add your drying agent to organic solvent.

you need to heat it really high temperature make sure that salt must be anhydrous .

dis advantage is it is not efficient as like fresh one

advantage you can save money