Distillation in Modern Chemistry Laboratory – How to Go About It?
In simple terminology, distillation is defined as the method of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors. In other words, any liquid when it is heated and becomes fully boiled, the process of distillation captures and cools the resultant hot vapors, and collect the condensed vapors. This method or process is not a chemical reaction but a unit operation or physical separation. In a modern chemistry laboratory, distillation is a very important requirement to identify and purify the organic compounds. Boiling Point Determination The chemistry teaching labs make use of distillation regularly, for two purpose: identification of organic compounds and the purification of organic compounds. The boiling point of a compound implies the physical features or properties of a compound by which it is distinguished. In a laboratory, distillation is used to purify a compound. This is done by separating the compound from less-volatile or a non-volatile material. There are different com