Why do we put ether and acetone in a cool place

Why do we put ether and acetone in a cool place?

Ether and acetone are common chemical solvents, which are widely used in laboratory and industrial production. Many people may ask: "Why do we put ether and acetone in a cool place?" This is actually closely related to their physical properties, chemical stability and safety. In order to better understand this problem, we need to start with the characteristics of ether and acetone and analyze why they need to be stored in a low temperature environment.

1. Ether and acetone are volatile

Ether and acetone are highly volatile chemicals. Volatility refers to the ability of a substance to change from a liquid state to a gaseous state. Ether has a boiling point of only 34.6°C, while acetone has a slightly higher boiling point of 56°C. Therefore, at room temperature, these two chemicals are very easy to volatilize into gas, especially in high temperature environment. If the ether and acetone are stored in a hot place, the volatilization rate will be accelerated, and the high concentration in the air may cause safety hazards such as fire or explosion.

2. Safety: prevent ether spontaneous combustion

Ether is a highly flammable chemical whose vapor mixes with air to form an explosive gas that is easily ignited by sparks or high temperatures. Especially in closed containers, the accumulation of ether vapor may cause spontaneous combustion or explosion if the concentration exceeds a certain range. In order to avoid this situation, we put the ether in a cool place to reduce its evaporation rate and reduce the accumulation of explosive gas, thereby improving the safety of storage.

3. Acetone stability and storage temperature

Acetone is chemically more stable, but also has a strong volatility. In a high temperature environment, the concentration of acetone vapor increases, which will not only waste the solubility of acetone, but may also cause health hazards to the human body. Long-term exposure to high concentrations of acetone vapor can cause dizziness, vomiting and other uncomfortable symptoms. Therefore, we need to reduce the volatilization of acetone through a low temperature environment to ensure the health and safety of operators.

4. Prevent harmful reactions

Although ether and acetone behave as relatively stable substances under regular conditions, their molecular structures may undergo some changes under high temperature environments. For example, ether may decompose at too high a temperature to produce peroxides, which are extremely explosive. Therefore, storing ether and acetone in a cool place helps prevent temperature-induced chemical reactions and ensures their chemical stability.

5. Summary

Why do we put ether and acetone in a cool place? This is mainly to avoid their volatile speed due to high temperature, which will cause fire, explosion and other safety risks. The low temperature environment helps to reduce their spontaneous combustion or chemical decomposition reactions and ensure the safety of laboratories and production workshops. Through scientific and reasonable storage methods, we can effectively control the volatility of ether and acetone, and avoid safety accidents caused by improper storage.

Understanding the storage requirements of ether and acetone and operating in strict accordance with regulations are important measures to ensure the safety of chemical use.