DISTILLATION DEMO
Name:
Period ________
Date_______________
A liquid sample of unknown composition arrives in your laboratory. Although the sample appears uniform
throughout, you have been told that it is a mixture of at least two different liquids. You set up the distillation
apparatus pictured below to separate the sample.
Questions:
1. What type of mixture are you separating?
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2. What role does the burner have in the distillation process?
_____
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Could the solution be distilled without the burner? Why?
_____
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3. You notice that your sample begins to boil at 96.2°C and liquid begins to drip into the collection flask.
What is happening?
_____
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4. Why is it a good idea to remove the collection flask and replace it with another as soon as the temperature
of the solution begins to rise again?
_____________________
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5. The temperature rises steadily and the solution begins to boil again at 102.3°C. What is happening now?
________________________
6. The temperature continues to rise until it reaches 108°C and the rest of the solution boils. How many
different liquids were contained in your sample? Explain.
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7. As you complete the distillation, you notice a white, crystalline film lining the inside of the flask that
contained the original sample. What could this substance be?
_________
Why didn’t you notice it in the original solution?
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