By: Srishti Sawant

In Organic Chemistry Honors, students are getting a taste of chemistry in action — or, more accurately, a whiff. In their steam distillation lab, students choose organic raw materials like coffee beans, eucalyptus leaves, or lemon peel to make their own essential oils. Along the way, they get to see chemistry concepts like polarity and gas behavior actually working . . . and the results are strong, sometimes amazing, smells.

The process is simpler than it sounds. Steam passes through the plant material, carrying the essential oils with it. The vapor then travels through a condenser, where it cools back into liquid. The oil separates from the water and is collected, and students sometimes use extra steps to make sure they capture every drop of aroma.

“I think it’s really cool getting to apply chemistry to something we actually use in real life,” says IA student Sreepadha Daram [12].

Labs like this let students connect the theory from class with real-world science, all while exploring the fragrant side of chemistry.

Image: IA senior Arya Alapati [12] and junior Cameron Kippels [11] creating coffee bean essential oil.