Question

What is difference between distillation and fractional distillation

Answer 1

Distillation: The liquid is heated to the boiling point, the liquid begins to boil and gradually becomes a vapor, and the vapor is cooled by a condensing device, and the liquid is again condensed to obtain the liquid. Distillation has the following uses: separation of the liquid mixture (effective separation only when the difference in boiling points of the components of the mixture is large); determination of the boiling point of the compound; extraction of liquid or low melting solids to remove non-volatile impurities; recovery of solvent , or concentrate the solution.
Fractional distillation: Although distillation is a common method for separating liquid organic matter, its separation efficiency is not high. Separation is sufficient only if the boiling points of the separated components differ by more than 150 degrees Celsius. For mixtures with similar boiling points, one ordinary distillation cannot separate the components, and they can only be separated by fractional distillation. This is both cumbersome and wasteful. Therefore, the fractionation method is employed.