Description
A Soxhlet extractor has three main sections: a percolator (boiler and reflux) which circulates the solvent, a thimble (usually made of thick filter paper) which retains the solid to be extracted, and a siphon mechanism, which periodically empties the thimble.
Assembly
The source material containing the compound to be extracted is placed inside the thimble.
The thimble is loaded into the main chamber of the Soxhlet extractor.
The extraction solvent to be used is placed in a distillation flask.
The flask is placed on the heating element.
The Soxhlet extractor is placed atop the flask.
A reflux condenser is placed atop the extractor.
