Fractional Distillation: A Guide for Separating Mixtures
What is fractional distillation?
Fractional distillation is a process used in chemistry to separate a mixture of liquids with different boiling points. It relies on the principle that different liquids have different boiling points.
How does fractional distillation work?
How can we separate a mixture of liquids using fractional distillation?
Answer:
Fractional distillation is a process used in chemistry to separate a mixture of liquids with different boiling points. It is commonly used in the petroleum industry to separate crude oil into its individual components, such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene. The process relies on the principle that different liquids have different boiling points.
Fractional distillation works by heating the mixture in a fractionating column. As the temperature increases, the liquid with the lowest boiling point vaporizes first and rises up the column. The vapor then condenses as it reaches a cooler part of the column and is collected as a separate liquid. This process is repeated for each component in the mixture, resulting in the separation of the different liquids.
For example, if you have a mixture of ethanol and water, which have boiling points of 78.4°C and 100°C respectively, you can perform fractional distillation to separate them. By heating the mixture, the ethanol vaporizes first and can be collected separately from the water.
By understanding how fractional distillation works, you can effectively separate mixtures of liquids with different boiling points in various industries and laboratory settings.