DETERMINATION OF THE WATER 53 



Making a Determination 



Preparing the Sample. The sample of butter is 

 placed in a suitable container (1-pint Mason jar or 

 metal cup will be satisfactory). This container is 

 placed in water at about 100 F. The butter is 

 stirred with a spatula or spoon until it is about the 

 consistency of thick cream and no free water can be 

 seen. Samples of butter should not be left standing 

 in open containers any length of time before making 

 water determination, as some of the moisture will 

 evaporate and the percentage of water shown when 

 the determination is finally made will be too low. 



Weighing the Sample. Place on each pan of the 

 balances one sheet of parchment paper and balance 

 accurately. Place the 10-gram w r eight on one pan 

 and balance again by placing butter on the parch- 

 ment paper on the opposite pan, placing the sample 

 as near the center of the paper as possible. 



Transferring Sample to Flask. When exactly 

 10 grams are weighed out remove the sample from 

 the pan, folding it in the parchment paper in such a 

 shape that the paper and butter may be slipped into 

 the flask A. Always use care that none of the butter 

 is lost in transferring. 



Adding Amyl Reagent. Fill the graduate with 

 amyl reagent to the mark 6 c.c., first being sure that 

 the graduate is free from water. Place the 6 c.c. of 

 amyl reagent in the flask with the butter. 



Connecting the Apparatus. Connect the appa- 

 ratus as shown in figure 1 and fill the condensing 



