/-/https/www.sciencebuddies.org/cdn/Files/21464/5/sb-logo.png){kind=logo}
/-/https/www.sciencebuddies.org/cdn/Files/21464/5/sb-logo.png){kind=logo}
I'm having trouble for my onion extraction experiment. I couldn't find 95% Ethanol so I bought 70% Ethyl.
First of all, is Ethyl the same thing as Ethanol?
Second of all, would there be any difference if I used 70% Ethanol (or Ethyl) over 95% Ethanol?
Thank You.
Extracting Onion DNA: Ethanol Subject
Moderators: AmyCowen, kgudger, MadelineB, Moderators
-
deleted-326174
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat Dec 05, 2015 9:55 pm
- Occupation: Student
-
deleted-291782
- Expert
- Posts: 153
- Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2015 7:45 pm
- Occupation: Biomedical Sciences Graduate
- Project Question: Registration as an Expert
- Project Due Date: N/A
- Project Status: Not applicable
Re: Extracting Onion DNA: Ethanol Subject
Hello, and thank you for your questions,
Ethyl is a little bit different than ethanol. Ethyl is an alkyl substituent, which is composed of a two carbon chain. Ethanol on the other hand is the same two carbon chain, but one of those carbons is bonded to an "-OH" group, making the alcohol. Check out Wikipedia for the relevant structures of each.
For your experiment, I would suggest that you use a 95% ethanol solution to precipitate the DNA. Will you still get DNA precipitation with a 70% solution? I would think so, but your yield might be a bit lower. 95% will likely give you better results in the end. The problem would be with acquiring high percentage alcohol solutions. Typically companies will only ship these to university laboratories or schools, so you may have to get this solution through another source if possible (through your school).
Hope this helped, best of luck!
Pharma
Ethyl is a little bit different than ethanol. Ethyl is an alkyl substituent, which is composed of a two carbon chain. Ethanol on the other hand is the same two carbon chain, but one of those carbons is bonded to an "-OH" group, making the alcohol. Check out Wikipedia for the relevant structures of each.
For your experiment, I would suggest that you use a 95% ethanol solution to precipitate the DNA. Will you still get DNA precipitation with a 70% solution? I would think so, but your yield might be a bit lower. 95% will likely give you better results in the end. The problem would be with acquiring high percentage alcohol solutions. Typically companies will only ship these to university laboratories or schools, so you may have to get this solution through another source if possible (through your school).
Hope this helped, best of luck!
Pharma