Abstract
The experiment was performed in order to compare the effectiveness of Simple and Fractional distillation in separation of solid impurities from liquid and liquids with difference in boiling point higher than 25⁰C. The distillation curves of both processes were graphed on each case and compared. The main source of possible error was discussed and the way to improve the experimental procedure was proposed. It was concluded that the Fractional distillation is more efficient procedure than Simple distillation in liquid separation. However, in case of separation of solid impurities from liquid or liquids with high difference in boiling points Simple distillation can be preferred.
Introduction
Distillation is a specific technique of separating mixtures based on differences in propensity to vaporize of components in a boiling liquid mixture (Palleros, 2000). Distillation is a physical separation process, which does not involve chemical reaction and used for purification of liquids which do not undergo decomposition at their boiling point.
There are several types of distillation including simple distillation, fractional distillation, vacuum distillation and steam distillation (ibid.). The type of used distillation depends on the nature of the liquid and the nature of impurities present in it. During this practical two types of distillation were performed: simple and fractional distillation.
Simple distillation is the most basic kind of distillation process. It is