distillation experiment explained

Lab Procedure: Simple Distillation

Core Concepts

In this lab tutorial, we discuss simple distillation, including its distinction from fractional distillation, its underlying physical chemistry, and its basic setup.

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What is Simple Distillation?

Distillation is a technique used by chemists to separate components of a liquid mixture with different boiling points. To do so, the liquid mixture is heated to only boil one component, which separates from the mixture as a gas. This gas then passes through a cold tube, condensing it back into a liquid and flowing into a separate vessel.

Simple distillation involves performing this procedure once to separate two liquids with very different boiling points. If instead, you want to separate two similarly volatile liquids, you would instead want to use fractional distillation to get a pure separation. If you would like to learn more about fractional distillation , check out this article.

Physical Chemistry of Simple Distillation

Simple distillation works to effectively separate liquids due to the unique properties of liquids . In particular, all liquids involve an equilibrium between the condensed liquid phase and a layer of vapor above the liquid. As temperature increases, more liquid molecules have enough energy to liberate from the liquid as vapor. This increases the pressure exerted by the vapor on the liquid, called vapor pressure . 

When the liquid heats so much that it reaches beyond its boiling point, all the liquid converts to vapor at equilibrium . Thus, at a given temperature, liquids with lower boiling points have higher vapor pressures than those with higher boiling points, as more volatile liquids are closer to becoming completely gas.

When two liquids form a homogenous mixture, any increase in temperature will release vapors from both liquids. However as mentioned before, the more volatile component releases more vapor than the other. According to Raoult’s Law, the exact proportion of a component in the vapor mixture depends on its vapor pressure and its mole fraction in the liquid mixture:

P A = X A P A °

X A = Mole fraction of A

P A = Partial pressure of component A

P A ° = Vapor pressure of A

Phase Diagrams in Distillation

Using Raoult’s Law, chemists develop phase diagrams for binary mixtures involving three areas: where both components are liquid, where both are gases, and where a mixture of gas and liquid exists at equilibrium. 

The liquid-and-gas phase has an elliptical shape with two corners at either end of the diagram. The two corners correspond to the boiling temperatures of both components. The x-axis corresponds to the mole fraction of one of the components.

In distillation, we start at a given mole fraction of component A and increase the temperature, moving upward in the diagram. Once we reach the edge of the liquid-and-gas phase, the first bubble of gas forms. If we draw a horizontal line from that edge, we find another point that lies on the other edge. This point corresponds to the mole fraction of A in that first bubble.

Notice that the boiling point of component A is lower than that of B. Thus, A has much higher volatility, so it makes sense to have such a high proportion in the gas. In your distillation apparatus, you will basically collect close to pure A in your receiving flask.

However, as mentioned before, simple distillation is most effective when the boiling points of the two components are significantly different. A minimum difference of 25°C between boiling points often serves as the standard for simple distillation. Any closer between the boiling points requires fractional distillation. This involves multiple rounds of distillation since the vapors off of that first round will have significant quantities of both components.

Simple Distillation Setup

To perform a simple distillation, you will need to set up the following apparatus:

The apparatus involves the following important components:

• A heat source, which raises the mixture to the appropriate temperature.
• A round-bottom boiling flask, which contains your liquid mixture or “analyte”.
• A sand bath, which ensures even heating of your boiling flask.
• A Vigruex column, which features internal “finger” structures that serve to collect vapors into liquid drops. These “fingers” primarily collect the trace vapors of the less volatile liquid(s), since they more easily condense. These drops then fall back into the analyte while the more volatile gas(es) pass into the condenser.
• A thermometer, which allows close monitoring of the vapor temperature.
• A condenser column, which features an external cold water jacket that cools the vapor, condensing it to a liquid. Importantly, this water jacket is completely separate from the vapor mixture, which flows through an internal tube.
• A receiver joint, which delivers the condensed liquid to the receiving flask. It features an inlet that you can use to apply a vacuum, which is useful in some separations.
• A receiving flask, into which the condensed liquid or “distillate” flows from the condenser.

Important: To ensure effective cooling of the distillate in the condenser, you should connect water tubes to the condenser inlets such that the water flows uphill. Put differently, water should enter the condenser from the lower inlet and exit from the upper inlet. When water instead flows downhill, a bubble of air forms at the top of the condenser, which limits the efficiency of the condenser.

The Distillation

Once you have set up your apparatus and checked all of your connections between glassware, you can apply heat and start distilling. The distillation is finished when one component is completely separated from the analyte. You can monitor this by observing the thermometer.

When immersed in vapors during distillation, the thermometer should read at or close to the boiling point of the component being separated. If the thermometer significantly drops in temperature after some time, that indicates the analyte has stopped producing vapors. This means that the component has finished distilling. Additionally, if the temperature suddenly increases, that indicates a different component with a higher boiling point has begun distilling. Under simple distillation, this means that the lower boiling point component has already finished distilling.

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What Is Distillation? Chemistry Definition

Understand the Principles of Distillation

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Distillation is an important separation process in chemistry, industry, and food science. Here is the definition of distillation and a look at the types of distillation and its uses.

Key Takeaways: Distillation

• Distillation is the process of separating components of a mixture based on different boiling points.
• Examples of uses of distillation include purification of alcohol, desalination, crude oil refining, and making liquefied gases from air.
• Humans have been using distillation since at least 3000 BC in the Indus Valley.

Distillation Definition

Distillation is a widely used method for separating mixtures based on differences in the conditions required to change the phase of components of the mixture. To separate a mixture of liquids, the liquid can be heated to force components, which have different boiling points , into the gas phase . The gas is then condensed back into liquid form and collected. Double distillation is when you repeat the process on the collected liquid to improve the purity of the product. Although the term is most commonly applied to liquids, the reverse process can be used to separate gases by liquefying components using changes in temperature and/or pressure.

A plant that performs distillation is called a distillery . The apparatus used to perform distillation is called a still .

The earliest known evidence of distillation comes from a terracotta distillation apparatus dating to 3000 BC in the Indus Valley of Pakistan. Distillation was known to be used by the Babylonians of Mesopotamia. Initially, distillation is believed to have been used to make perfumes. Distillation of beverages occurred much later. The Arab chemist Al-Kindi distilled alcohol in 9th century Irag. Distillation of alcoholic beverages appears common in Italy and China starting in the 12th century.

Distillation Uses

Distillation is used for many commercial processes, such as the production of gasoline, distilled water, xylene, alcohol, paraffin, kerosene, and many other liquids . Gas may be liquefied and separated. For example: nitrogen, oxygen, and argon are distilled from air.

Types of Distillation

Types of distillation include simple distillation, fractional distillation (different volatile 'fractions' are collected as they are produced), and destructive distillation (usually, a material is heated so that it decomposes into compounds for collection).

Simple Distillation

Simple distillation may be used when the boiling points of two liquids are significantly different from each other or to separate liquids from solids or nonvolatile components. In simple distillation, a mixture is heated to change the most volatile component from a liquid into vapor. The vapor rises and passes into a condenser. Usually, the condenser is cooled (e.g., by running cold water around it) to promote condensation of the vapor, which is collected.

Steam Distillation

Steam distillation is used to separate heat-sensitive components. Steam is added to the mixture, causing some of it to vaporize. This vapor is cooled and condensed into two liquid fractions. Sometimes the fractions are collected separately, or they may have different density values , so they separate on their own. An example is the steam distillation of flowers to yield essential oil and a water-based distillate.

Fractional Distillation

Fractional distillation is used when the boiling points of the components of a mixture are close to each other, as determined using Raoult's law . A fractionating column is used to separate the components using a series of distillations called rectification. In fractional distillation, a mixture is heated so vapor rises and enters the fractionating column. As the vapor cools, it condenses on the packing material of the column. The heat of rising vapor causes this liquid to vaporize again, moving it along the column and eventually yielding a higher purity sample of the more volatile component of the mixture.

Vacuum Distillation

Vacuum distillation is used to separate components that have high boiling points. Lowering the pressure of the apparatus also lowers boiling points. Otherwise, the process is similar to other forms of distillation. Vacuum distillation is particularly useful when the normal boiling point exceeds the decomposition temperature of a compound.

• Allchin, F. R. (1979). "India: The Ancient Home of Distillation?". Man . 14 (1): 55–63. doi: 10.2307/2801640
• Forbes, R. J. (1970). A Short History of the Art of Distillation from the Beginnings up to the Death of Cellier Blumenthal . BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-00617-1.
• Harwood, Laurence M.; Moody, Christopher J. (1989). Experimental organic chemistry: Principles and Practice (Illustrated ed.). Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications. ISBN 978-0-632-02017-1.
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Distillation (GCSE Chemistry)

Distillation.

Table of Contents

Distillation is used to separate a solvent from a solution. For example, this process is used to obtain pure water from seawater.

• Set up the apparatus. The distillation apparatus involves a round-bottomed flask, a heat source, a thermometer, a condenser and a collecting beaker. We have to use a round-bottomed flask because it is less prone to cracking under heat.
• Heat the solution. The solution is heated and the liquid begins to evaporate . The vapour from the solution rises and then passes down the condenser, in which it is cooled and condensed using cold water.
• The liquid collects in the beaker. The cooling in the condenser turns the vapour into liquid again, and this liquid is collected in the beaker. The solute (e.g. salt from saltwater) is left in the round-bottomed flask.

Distillation works on the principle that the dissolved solute has a higher boiling point than the solvent.

Fractional Distillation

Fractional Distillation is used to separate individual liquids from a mixture of different liquids. These liquids dissolve in each other completely and are known as miscible liquids . Fractional distillation works on the principle that individual liquids in the mixture have different boiling points , starting with the liquid that has the lowest to the highest.

• Set up the apparatus. The mixture is placed in a flask with a fractionating column placed on top. The fractionating column is a long tube with lots of small glass beads. The column is hot near the bottom, and cooler near the top.
• Heat the mixture. The mixture is then heated and evaporates . The vapours rise through the column. The vapour condenses when it reaches a point in the column that has a temperature lower than its boiling point. Therefore the column separates liquids that condense at different temperatures.
• Liquid collects in the beaker. This liquid is then collected in a beaker, the first liquid to be collected will have the lowest boiling point.

Fractional distillation is used for separating ethanol from water and crude oil. We will look at this in more detail later on.

Distillation is a process used to separate liquids based on their boiling points. It involves heating a mixture of liquids to create vapor, which is then cooled and condensed to separate the liquids.

Distillation is used in chemistry to separate and purify liquids, such as alcohol from water or oil from water. It is a common technique in the production of chemicals, as well as in the purification of liquids for laboratory use.

Distillation works by heating a mixture of liquids to create vapor, which rises and is separated from the liquid. The vapor is then cooled and condensed, creating a separate liquid. The liquids are separated based on their boiling points, as each liquid will vaporize at a different temperature.

Distillation typically requires a distillation flask, a condenser, a thermometer, and a collection flask. The distillation flask contains the mixture of liquids, while the condenser is used to cool and condense the vapor. The thermometer is used to monitor the temperature of the mixture, and the collection flask is used to collect the separated liquids.

To set up a distillation apparatus, the distillation flask is placed on a heat source, such as a Bunsen burner. The condenser is connected to the flask, and the thermometer is inserted into the flask to monitor the temperature. The collection flask is also connected to the condenser to collect the separated liquids.

The efficiency of distillation is affected by the boiling points of the liquids, the temperature of the heat source, the efficiency of the condenser, and the size of the collection flask. It is important to carefully control these factors to ensure efficient and accurate separation of the liquids.

No, distillation cannot be used to separate all liquids. It is only effective for separating liquids with different boiling points. For liquids with similar boiling points, other techniques, such as chromatography, may be used instead.

Distillation can be dangerous if not performed correctly. The process involves heating flammable liquids, which can pose a fire risk. Additionally, the heated mixture can produce toxic or flammable vapors, which can be dangerous if inhaled. It is important to follow proper safety procedures and use appropriate protective equipment when performing distillation.

Distillation has a wide range of real-world applications, including the production of chemicals, the purification of drinking water, the production of alcohol, and the production of gasoline and other fuels. It is also used in the laboratory to purify liquids for use in experiments and analysis.

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