What is the difference between simple distillation and fractional distillation?

Name: Problem 44, Chapter 11: Chemistry: An Atoms-Focused Approach
Uploaded: 2020-07-28T15:53:00-08:00
Duration: 3 min 47 s
Channel: Anatole Borisov
Description: What is the difference between simple distillation and fractional distillation?

What is the difference between simple distillation and...

Key Concepts

Distillation

Distillation is a separation technique based on differences in boiling points of components in a mixture. It involves heating a liquid to create vapor and then condensing the vapor back to liquid, thereby isolating substances based on their volatility. This process is fundamental in both laboratory and industrial settings for purifying liquids or separating components.

Simple Distillation

Simple distillation involves a single vaporization-condensation cycle and is typically used when the components of the mixture have significantly different boiling points. Because it lacks additional mechanisms to enhance separation, it is effective for purifying liquids or separating components that do not require precise separation due to large boiling point differences.

Fractional Distillation

Fractional distillation uses a fractionating column to achieve multiple condensed vaporization cycles within the same apparatus. This setup allows for finer separation of components, especially when their boiling points are close to each other. The column increases the contact surface for repeated distillation, leading to improved separation efficiency and purity of the individual components.

Transcript

00:01 So in a simple distillation, it really breaks down to we have a tube like this where we have a heat source, which i'll draw in red, as these flames, and we have some amount of our mixture right here.

00:25 Now, in this mixture, we have two different components that have different boiling points.

00:32 And so the one that has the lower boiling point is going to get heated up, and it's going to work its way up.

00:38 As a gas until it's right here.

00:41 And up here, it's not as hot.

00:44 We have a higher t over here and a lower temp over here because just the heat sources down here it doesn't reach all the way up.

00:53 And then once we reach up here, then some of this gas, that's the one with the lower boiling point, is going to condense and slide down this tube right here.

01:05 Often there's some sort of cooling apparatus here to make this happen.

01:10 Like cold water running through.

01:12 And then the result is that we're going to get the lower boiling point liquid in the other beaker when we're done.

01:18 The only thing that's left is going to be the one with a higher boiling point.

01:21 So that's simple distillation.

01:25 Fractional distillation is really the same thing, except in this tube, it allows for multiple of these processes.

01:34 So what often happens is it almost looks as if there's ridges along.

01:40 And so we still have that same heat source and we still have that tube that goes down and lets condensed liquid come up...

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