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Chem 31.1
Elementary Organic Chemistry Laboratory

Simple Distillation
Asparin, Jade Frances B.
College of Science, University of the Philippines-Cebu, Philippines
Contact number: +639954619301 Email address: jbasparin@up.edu.ph

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

1. Sketch your distillation set-up as prepared in the experiment. Completely label all parts and
indicate their functions.

o Iron clamps – used to hold things and is placed in an iron stand to elevate laboratory
equipment.
o Iron Stand - used to provide support for other equipment and a means of raising equipment
above the work surface.
o Distilling flask – where you put in your mixture of compounds that you want to separate.
o Water bath – it provides indirect heat of the flask (which contains the solution) without
changing the concentration of the solution.
o Thermometer – this measures the temperature of the vapor that is about to be condensed.
 o Condenser – it facilitates the change of gas vapor into a liquid phase; It is a tube where the
water flows in and out that keeps it cool
o Hose – it is the medium through which the water flows in and out of the condenser
o Hot Plate – this serves as the heating medium in the distillation set-up
o Graduated cylinder (or any container) – this serves as the container and the measuring
apparatus for the sample that has been separated during the distillation process.

2. Differentiate simple and fractional distillation. When is one more suitable over the other?

Simple distillation is used to separate miscible liquids with large differences in boiling points
since it only condenses the liquid once. On the other hand, fractional distillation is still similar to
simple distillation, however, the number of simple distillations performed depends on the length and
efficiency of the fractionating column. Fractional distillation is more effective in liquids with a
boiling point difference of less than 40°C.

3. Cite at least 3 industrial applications of distillation.

 Oil Refining
 Purification of water
 Production of alcoholic beverages
 Manufacturing of fragrances and other essential oils
 Manufacturing of herbal medicines

4. Define the following terms:

a. Boiling point – the temperature at which a liquid boils and turns to vapor.
b. Vapor pressure – this refers to the pressure exerted by a vapour when it is in equilibrium with
its condensed phases.
c. Head temperature – it is the temperature of the more volatile liquid being distilled, usually
lower than the pot temperature.
d. Pot temperature – it is the temperature of the boiling liquid in a stillpot.
e. Ideal solution – it is a solution in which interactions between like molecules are the same as
those between unlike molecules
f. Raoult’s law – this law states that the partial pressure of each component of an ideal mixture
of liquids is equal to the vapour pressure of the pure component multiplied by its mole
fraction in the mixture.
g. Dalton’s law – this law states that in a mixture of non-reacting gases, the total pressure
exerted is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the individual gases.
h. Azeotrope - a mixture of two liquids which has a constant boiling point and composition
throughout distillation.
5. Specify whether a simple or a fractional distillation would be more suitable for each of the
following separations, and briefly justify your choice. You may need to look for relevant
physical properties of the substances.

a. Prepare drinking water from seawater – Simple distillation is the separation of volatile liquid
from a non-volatile substance. Sea water is a combination of water and salt. Water is volatile
and salt is non-volatile therefore drinking water is separated from seawater by simple
distillation.
b. Separating benzene from toluene – Fractional distillation is used with substances that have
boiling points that differ by less than 40°C from each other. Toluene and benzene have a
boiling point of 110.6 °C and 80.1°C, respectively. Thus fractional distillation is used.
c. Obtaining gasoline from crude oil – There is a substantial amount of hydrocarbons that do not
boil at the set temperature and they remain in liquid form, collected from the bottom of the
tower as residue. So, in short, crude can be separated using fractional distillation because it is
a mixture of hydrocarbons with different boiling point ranges.
d. Separating diethyl ether from toluene - Simple distillation can be used to separate a non-
volatile solid from a liquid. Simple distillation can also be used to separate two volatile
liquids with vastly different boiling points (more than 40°C) such as in the case of diethyl
ether and toluene.

6. Following are the vapour pressures of water, methanol and ethanol at 100°C:
Pvap, mmHg
(at 100oC)
Water 760
Methanol 2625
Ethanol 1694

a. What is the general relationship between vapour pressure and boiling point of compounds?
 The higher the vapour pressure of a liquid at a given temperature, the lower the
normal boiling point (i.e., the boiling point at atmospheric pressure) of the liquid.
b. Based on their vapour pressures, arrange the compounds in increasing normal boiling points.
Which one will be distilled first? Which one will be distilled last?
 Methanol, Ethanol, Water

7. What are the effects of adding non-volatile impurities such as salt or sand to the boiling point
of an aqueous solution?

The boiling point of the aqueous solution increases.

8. Why is it extremely dangerous to attempt to carry out a distillation in a completely closed

apparatus (one with no vent to the atmosphere)?
 The pressure will build up causing the apparatus to explode.
9. If a pure substance (e.g. water) is distilled, why does all of the liquid not vaporized at one the
boiling point is reached?

When a liquid reaches its boiling point, it produces energy that is able to transform some
molecules from liquid phase into gas phase. Not all molecules turn into gas at once since the energy
present is not enough.

10. What is the effect of performing the distillation at reduced pressures, i.e. lower than
atmospheric pressure?
This will reduce the distillation time, decomposition of compounds and decrease chances of
faulty process.

11. If distillation is carried out too quickly, liquid mixtures may not separate properly. Why is
better separation achieved by slow rather than rapid distillation?

Slow distillation permits best equilibration and heat transfer. Also, it allows one to
“maximize the number of vaporizations and condensations in the fractionating column” (“Distillation
of liquid mixtures”, n.d.). If you heat too fast, vapors may not condense as quickly as desired, and
may waste some of the column.

12. Cooling water enters the condenser near the receiver and leaves at the highest point (near the
distilling flask). Why is this done and not the other way around?

To ensure efficient cooling. Maximum cooling is achieved when the condenser is filled;
hence, maximizing the recovery of the purified liquid from distillation. If you set it up the opposite
way, and if for some reason the rate of water flow into the condenser decreased and became slower
than the rate of water exiting the condenser, then the condenser would not remain filled with water.

13. The thermometer bulb should be placed just below to orifice to the condenser. Explain the
effect on the observed temperature reading if the bulb is placed above the opening.

The thermometer bulb should be placed below the orifice to the condenser to ensure that the
entire mercury reservoir is immersed in the rising vapors and that the temperature is accurate. If the
thermometer is placed above the opening, it will record a lower temperature.

14. Why must the distilling flask not be filled (a) more than two-thirds full, (b) less than one-third
full, or (c) distilled to dryness?

a.) To ensure enough clearance for the liquid once boiling commences. If not, the liquid may be sent
to the condenser which may negatively impact the purity of the distillate (“Distillation”, n.d.)
b.) Filling the distilling flask only one-third full leads to a compromise in recovery since there is a
quantity of vapor required to fill the flask that will not distill over (holdup volume) (Nichols,
2019).
c.) The residue left may contain peroxides that could explode after all the liquid has distilled away
(Yoder, n.d.).
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