Help please! Science project question

[meganruby]

I have done a experiment testing the ethanol content in a white wine sauce by titrating it and have gotten odd results. The sauce contained a cup of 13% alcohol volume wine and a cup of chicken stock and an onion. When I tested it after not cooking it for anytime at all I got a result of 2% where as i expected it to be at least 6% as I thought most of the ethanol would have still been present. Do have any idea why I might have gotten these results?

[donnahardy2]

Hi,

Ethanol quantitation can be challenging because it is a volatile analyte and a complex sample matrix can interfere with analysis. How are you measuring ethanol concentration? Are you using a hydrometer or an anlytical assay? Have you tested a standard curve in water and in wine sauce? Did you heat your sample or leave it exposed to air after you added the ethanol? If you can answer these questions, I might be able to explain to you what happened and give suggestions for improving results.

Donna Hardy