Chemistry – Experimental techniques and chemical analysis - Separation and purification | e-Consult
Experimental techniques and chemical analysis - Separation and purification (1 questions)
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A suitable method is distillation.
Scientific Principle: Ethanol has a lower boiling point (78.3 °C) than water (100 °C). During distillation, the mixture is heated, and the component with the lower boiling point (ethanol) vaporizes first. The vapour is then cooled and condensed back into a liquid, separating it from the water.
Procedure:
- Set up a distillation apparatus, including a round-bottomed flask containing the ethanol-water mixture, a distillation head, a condenser, and a receiving flask.
- Heat the mixture in the round-bottomed flask.
- The ethanol will vaporize first, travel through the distillation head and condenser, and condense in the receiving flask.
- The water will vaporize later and condense in the condenser.
Further Purification: The ethanol obtained from distillation may not be completely pure. A further purification step could be fractional distillation. Fractional distillation uses a fractionating column packed with glass beads or other material to improve the separation of the ethanol and water. This allows for a more efficient separation of the components based on their boiling points.