Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy for Measuring Ternary Phase Diagrams

A laboratory experiment is presented for the upper-level undergraduate physical chemistry curriculum in which the ternary phase diagram of water, 1-propanol and n-heptane is measured using proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The experiment builds upon basic concepts of NMR spectral analysis, typically taught in the undergraduate organic chemistry curriculum, applying them to the study of phase behavior, a traditional basic topic of thermodynamics. (Contains 3 figures.)