6 8 pts How does fractional distillation differ from simple

6. (8 pts) How does fractional distillation differ from simple distillation? (be brief)

Solution

The basic differences of these two kind of distillations can be summarised as follows-

1)Simple distillation is the method used to separate substances in mixtures with significantly different boiling points, while fractional distillation is used for mixtures containing chemicals with boiling points close to each other.

2)Simple distillation will only have one distillation (vaporization-condensation) cycle in the whole process, while the fractional cycle will have at least two cycles.For the distillation of liquids having comparable boiling points,the process of vaporization and condensation is repeated many times.As the temperature difference becomes smaller,iteration number increases.

3)Fractional distillation will use additional equipment called the ‘fractionating column, while the simple distillation will not need that equipment as the liquid having higher boiling point is condensed through fractional column so that it can not mix with the vapor of other liquid.

4)Simple distillation is often used to separate the liquid substance from the solid substance. Doing such separation with fractional distillation is not done as it is not convenient.