Fractional Distillation and Everyday Hydrocarbons Winter Group Project: Assignment

Fractional Distillation and Everyday Hydrocarbons – Winter Group Project 

Purpose
Use online research to investigate a particular hydrocarbon product during the oil refining process, its uses, chemical characteristics, and impacts on the environment.

Introduction
Energy from the sun is used by plants and other photosynthetic organisms to combine carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen into high-energy molecules. Instead of decaying and decomposing like most organisms when they die, some organisms died in certain conditions appropriate for making fossil fuels. The form this takes is called kerogen, the primary organic component of oil shale. Over time, more and more sediment covered the kerogen, increasing the temperature and pressure above it until it produced crude oil (as well as natural gas). Through this project, your group will explore how the mixture of different hydrocarbons that makes up crude oil or petroleum are distilled and treated in the refinery process. Through this process, we acquire gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, asphalt, and many other products useful to our daily lives.

You will be working in groups of 2-3 to produce a 5-7 minute video describing ONE hydrocarbon product. Your video must include images, substantive research, and citations for both information you’ve researched and any media (images, clips, animations, etc.) that you use. EACH person in the group is responsible for the overall quality and accuracy of the final video. You will also be evaluated on an individual level.

Due Dates
The final video will be due on Monday, February 6^th. Individual project components will also be due on the following days:

• Topics due January 10^th/11^th (Week 1)
• Five major research resources due January 17^th/18^th (Week 2)
• Self and peer evaluations, and assessment of 2 other student videos due February 7^th/8^th (Week 5)

You will have class time during the fourth week to make your videos. All research should be done before then.

Project Elements
Your final video must address the following major research questions:

• What is your particular hydrocarbon used for? How is it produced?
• How does the chemical structure of your hydrocarbon affect its use(s)?
• What are some of the environmental concerns with producing this product?

In addition, your video must include the following:

• The correct chemical formula and 3-D shape of your hydrocarbon.
• A description of its polarity and how this might affect its behavior and use(s).
• Which primary Intermolecular Molecular Forces (IMFs) are present and how do the IMFs affect your hydrocarbon’s separation from crude oil during fractional distillation? At which boiling point does this occur?
• An introduction with background on the source of your hydrocarbon, a main body that addresses the key research questions above, the process of fractional distillation (how does it work?) and a conclusion summarizing your findings.
• Citations of all media and information in MLA format, as well as a final Works Cited slide in your video.
• High quality editing, which means transitions are smooth and audio is clear. Music is optional. Not all members need to speak during the video, but all members must contribute equally to the project. (Define roles, don’t just divide the research questions among each member!)

Helpful Resources
Please see the following links for helpful resources to get you started on your research. You will need at least five major research resources, so additional research on your topics beyond these resources below will be necessary.

• “Oil: Crude and Petroleum Products Explained,” U.S. Energy Information Administration http://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.cfm?page=oil_home
• “Oil Refining: A Closer Look,” American Association for the Advancement of Science, http://sciencenetlinks.com/interactives/energy/interactive/api_treat_012810.swf
• “Boiling points and structures of hydrocarbons,” Elmhurst University, http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/vchembook/501hcboilingpts.html

Assessment and Rubric
You will be assessed on both a group and individual level. The rubric below will be used to assess your project. In addition, you will need to review two other group videos and provide a self-reflection on your learning process during the project. N.B. Individual grade categories are in italics.

Team:                                                                                  Name: