Question

Explain, why an organicliquid vaporises at a temperature below its boiling point in itssteam distillation?

Answer 1

In steam distillation,the organic liquid starts to boil when the sum of vapour pressure dueto the organic liquid (p₁) and the vapour pressuredue to water (p₂) becomes equal to atmosphericpressure (p), that is, p = p₁ + p₂

Since p₁< p₂, organic liquid will vapourise at a lowertemperature than its boiling point.