Dielectric properties of some vegetable oils

Summary

The density, the refractive index and the dielectric constants at room temperature (26°) are determined for the solutions of castor oil, olive oil, sesame oil and cocoanut oil in benzene. The dielectric constants were determined at 30 meters (10,000 Kc.) by observing the resonance with the help of a valve-voltmeter. It is found that in very dilute solutions the molecules of these oils are more or less free from association. Experiments on very dilute solutions of these oils therefore give fairly reasonable values for their electric moments which are in these cases 3·68 × 10⁻¹⁸; 3·03 × 10⁻¹⁸; 2·91 × 10⁻¹⁸; and 2·82 × 10⁻¹⁸ for castor oil, olive oil, sesame oil and cocoanut oil respectively.