Why is it important that cooling water in distillation apparatus enters at the lower end of condenser jacket?
Certainly by routing the cooling water into the inflow end of the condenser, the distillate will be cooled more quickly – at least in the first part of the condenser. But the distillate is moving, and heat transfer takes a finite amount of time. But routing the cooling fluid (the water) into the outflow of the condenser, there will be more dramatic cooling throughout the length of the condenser. Remember that the distillate is cooler toward the outflow end of the condenser, and it takes cooler water at this end to drive the heat exchange process.
