Distillation

• Simple Distillation is used to separate a solvent from a solute.
• Fractional Distillation is used to separate a mixture of liquids.
• Simple Distillation:

  • Heat the impure substance until it starts to boil
  • The solvent will evaporate and its vapour will travel down the condenser
  • It cools and condenses back into a pure liquid
  • The solute is left in the flask
• Fractional Distillation:

  • Add the mixture to a flask with a fractioning column and condenser
  • Gradually heat it and the liquid with the lowest boiling point will evaporate first and then be condensed back into a liquid
  • Other liquids may start to evaporate but will condense once they reach the top of the fractionating column as it is cooler
  • When the first substance has been collected increase the temperature and repeat