distillation experiment

Lab Procedure: Simple Distillation

Core Concepts

In this lab tutorial, we discuss simple distillation, including its distinction from fractional distillation, its underlying physical chemistry, and its basic setup.

Topics Covered in Other Articles

• What is a Solution
• Solute vs. Solvent
• Recrystallization
• Iodine Clock Reaction
• Thin Layer Chromatography
• Scientific Method

What is Simple Distillation?

Distillation is a technique used by chemists to separate components of a liquid mixture with different boiling points. To do so, the liquid mixture is heated to only boil one component, which separates from the mixture as a gas. This gas then passes through a cold tube, condensing it back into a liquid and flowing into a separate vessel.

Simple distillation involves performing this procedure once to separate two liquids with very different boiling points. If instead, you want to separate two similarly volatile liquids, you would instead want to use fractional distillation to get a pure separation. If you would like to learn more about fractional distillation , check out this article.

Physical Chemistry of Simple Distillation

Simple distillation works to effectively separate liquids due to the unique properties of liquids . In particular, all liquids involve an equilibrium between the condensed liquid phase and a layer of vapor above the liquid. As temperature increases, more liquid molecules have enough energy to liberate from the liquid as vapor. This increases the pressure exerted by the vapor on the liquid, called vapor pressure . 

When the liquid heats so much that it reaches beyond its boiling point, all the liquid converts to vapor at equilibrium . Thus, at a given temperature, liquids with lower boiling points have higher vapor pressures than those with higher boiling points, as more volatile liquids are closer to becoming completely gas.

When two liquids form a homogenous mixture, any increase in temperature will release vapors from both liquids. However as mentioned before, the more volatile component releases more vapor than the other. According to Raoult’s Law, the exact proportion of a component in the vapor mixture depends on its vapor pressure and its mole fraction in the liquid mixture:

P A = X A P A °

X A = Mole fraction of A

P A = Partial pressure of component A

P A ° = Vapor pressure of A

Phase Diagrams in Distillation

Using Raoult’s Law, chemists develop phase diagrams for binary mixtures involving three areas: where both components are liquid, where both are gases, and where a mixture of gas and liquid exists at equilibrium. 

The liquid-and-gas phase has an elliptical shape with two corners at either end of the diagram. The two corners correspond to the boiling temperatures of both components. The x-axis corresponds to the mole fraction of one of the components.

In distillation, we start at a given mole fraction of component A and increase the temperature, moving upward in the diagram. Once we reach the edge of the liquid-and-gas phase, the first bubble of gas forms. If we draw a horizontal line from that edge, we find another point that lies on the other edge. This point corresponds to the mole fraction of A in that first bubble.

Notice that the boiling point of component A is lower than that of B. Thus, A has much higher volatility, so it makes sense to have such a high proportion in the gas. In your distillation apparatus, you will basically collect close to pure A in your receiving flask.

However, as mentioned before, simple distillation is most effective when the boiling points of the two components are significantly different. A minimum difference of 25°C between boiling points often serves as the standard for simple distillation. Any closer between the boiling points requires fractional distillation. This involves multiple rounds of distillation since the vapors off of that first round will have significant quantities of both components.

Simple Distillation Setup

To perform a simple distillation, you will need to set up the following apparatus:

The apparatus involves the following important components:

• A heat source, which raises the mixture to the appropriate temperature.
• A round-bottom boiling flask, which contains your liquid mixture or “analyte”.
• A sand bath, which ensures even heating of your boiling flask.
• A Vigruex column, which features internal “finger” structures that serve to collect vapors into liquid drops. These “fingers” primarily collect the trace vapors of the less volatile liquid(s), since they more easily condense. These drops then fall back into the analyte while the more volatile gas(es) pass into the condenser.
• A thermometer, which allows close monitoring of the vapor temperature.
• A condenser column, which features an external cold water jacket that cools the vapor, condensing it to a liquid. Importantly, this water jacket is completely separate from the vapor mixture, which flows through an internal tube.
• A receiver joint, which delivers the condensed liquid to the receiving flask. It features an inlet that you can use to apply a vacuum, which is useful in some separations.
• A receiving flask, into which the condensed liquid or “distillate” flows from the condenser.

Important: To ensure effective cooling of the distillate in the condenser, you should connect water tubes to the condenser inlets such that the water flows uphill. Put differently, water should enter the condenser from the lower inlet and exit from the upper inlet. When water instead flows downhill, a bubble of air forms at the top of the condenser, which limits the efficiency of the condenser.

Simple Distillation Experiment

To separate a mixture of two miscible liquids by simple distillation.

What is a Simple Distillation Experiment?

Simple distillation separates components from their liquid mixtures based on their boiling point differences. In this method, the mixture to be separated is heated and then cooled using a water condenser. The condensed vapours are then collected from the outlet of the condenser tube. 

In this way, different components are collected at different boiling temperatures. When the mixture’s components differ widely in their boiling points (more than 25 ° C), this method is most suitable for their separation. The liquid obtained after condensation is called distillate and can be easily collected in a beaker or conical flask.

Aim of Experiment:

Apparatus and material required:.

• Distillation Flask 
• Laboratory Thermometer (-10 °C to 110 °C) 
• Two Beakers (250 mL)
• Tripod Stand
• Single Bore Cork

A mixture of Water and Acetone

• Step 1: Place the tripod stand and the wire gauze over the burner. 
• Step 2: The distillation flask should be kept on the tripod stand and clamped to an iron stand. 
• Step 3: Now seal the flask using a single bored cork. Insert a laboratory thermometer into the bore of the cork to measure the temperature while boiling the liquid. 
• Step 4: Insert the distillation flask arm into a condenser attached to an iron stand. 
• Step 5: The inlets and outlets of the condenser should be properly attached to the water pipes. 
• Step 6: Place an empty beaker below the open end of the condenser. 
• Step 7: Heat the mixture of acetone and water slowly and carefully monitor the temperature rise. 
• Step 8: Observe and note the temperature at which the first component of the mixture distils out; that is, the vapours get cooled and collected in a beaker kept at the other end of the condenser. 
• Step 9: Continue heating and observe and note the temperature at which the second component distils out. 

Precautions:

• The thermometer bulb should be at the arm of the distillation flask to prevent any erroneous reading. 
• The distillation flask should be sealed tightly using the cork to prevent the escape of vapours. 
• The condenser should be supplied with a continuous flow of cold water. 

FAQs on Simple Distillation Experiment

Q: how do we define boiling point.

Answer: The temperature at which the vapour pressure of a liquid becomes equal to the external pressure surrounding the area of the liquid is known as the boiling point of that liquid.

Q: What is the use of porcelain pieces in the distillation flask?

Answer: While heating the distillation flask, the solution evaporates. Porcelain pieces are placed in the distillation flask to prevent the solution from bumping due to uneven heating.

Q: What is the difference between boiling and evaporation?

Answer: Evaporation is a natural process that occurs when the liquid changes into a gaseous form because of increased pressure or temperature. Evaporation does not produce any bubbles. Boiling is an unnatural process where the liquid gets heated up and vaporised due to continuous heating of the liquid. Boiling produces continuous bubbles during heating.

Q. What are the two processes in distillation?

Answer: Distillation is a two-step process that includes distillation and condensation reflux. The liquid boils at a high temperature, converts into gas, and then condenses. The gas-liquid two-phase flow over the countercurrent contact is commonly carried out in a distillation column.

Q. How can aniline and chloroform be separated?

Answer: The distillation technique can be used to separate aniline and chloroform due to the greater difference in boiling point. The aniline has the formula C6H5NH2. The organic compound chloroform has the formula CHCl3.

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Shop Experiment Fractional Distillation Experiments​

Fractional distillation.

Experiment #8 from Chemistry with Vernier

Introduction

An example of a simple distillation is the separation of a solution of salt and water into two separate pure substances. When the salt water solution is heated to boiling, water vapor from the mixture reaches the condenser and the cold water circulating around the inside tube causes condensation of water vapor into droplets of liquid water. The liquid water is then collected at the lower end of the condenser. The non-volatile salt remains in the flask.

In this experiment, the initial mixture you distill contains two volatile liquids: ethanol and water. In this distillation, both of the liquids will evaporate from the boiling solution. Ethanol and water have normal boiling temperatures of 79°C and 100°C, respectively. One objective of the experiment is to observe what happens when a liquid-liquid mixture is heated and allowed to boil over a period of time. Throughout the distillation, volumes of distillate, called fractions , will be collected. The percent composition of ethanol and water in each fraction will be determined from its density. Water has a density of 1.00 g/cm 3 (at 20°C) and ethanol has a density of 0.79 g/cm 3 (at 20°C). The fractions you collect will have densities in this range.

In this experiment, you will

• Observe what happens when a liquid-liquid mixture is heated and allowed to boil over a period of time.
• Determine percent composition of ethanol and water in the fraction from its density.

Sensors and Equipment

This experiment features the following sensors and equipment. Additional equipment may be required.

Correlations

Teaching to an educational standard? This experiment supports the standards below.

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This experiment is #8 of Chemistry with Vernier . The experiment in the book includes student instructions as well as instructor information for set up, helpful hints, and sample graphs and data.

January 28, 2016

Separation by Distillation

A vaporizing science project from Science Buddies

By Science Buddies

Can you separate the ingredients of a solution using just heat? Try this sweet activity and find out! 

George Retseck

Key concepts Physics Boiling point Condensation Distillation

Introduction Do you like cooking? If you have helped in the kitchen at home or watched someone else cook, you have probably seen lots of liquids—such as water, milk and soup—heated. Did you notice that once the liquid boils, a lot of steam develops? Have you ever wondered what the steam is made of and what happens to all the substances such as sugar or salt that are dissolved in the solution you are boiling? Do they boil off, too, or do they stay behind in the solution? In this activity you will build a distillation device that allows you to sample the steam that you generate while boiling a fruit juice! How do you think it will taste?

Background What do you need to make a solution? First, you need water or a solvent and then you need a substance such as sugar or salt to dissolve, also called the solute. The solvent and solute become one solution—a homogeneous mixture—in which you cannot see the difference between them anymore. Most solutions actually contain many different substances. But what if you want to separate the individual components from a liquid solution? There is a process called distillation that allows you to do just that. It is used in many real-world applications, such as making medicine, perfumes or some food products.

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Distillation exploits the differences in the volatility of the solution's components, which means that every compound has a different boiling point and starts to vaporize (change from its liquid to gaseous state) at a different temperature. When distilling, you heat up the solution so that the component with the lowest boiling point evaporates first, leaving the other solutes behind. The vaporized component in the gaseous state can then be collected in a different container by condensation and is called distillate. This means that the vapor is cooled down so the gas becomes a liquid again. By changing the distillation temperature, you can separate many different substances according to their different volatilities. If you have a solution that includes a nonvolatile solute, however, this compound will always stay behind in the solution.

Knowing now how distillation works, what do you think will happen to the fruit juice once you heat it? Make your own distillation device and find out!

Stove (Always work with an adult helper when using the stove.)

Deep cooking pot with sloped lid (transparent lid, if you have one)

Ceramic bowl

Small ceramic plate or ceramic coffee cup

Three glasses

Apple or cranberry juice (about half a liter)

Liquid measuring cup

Broth (optional)

Cooking thermometer (optional)

Vinegar (optional)

Preparation

Make sure all of your materials are clean. (Then you will be able to sample the juice and products at the end of the activity.)

Place the small ceramic plate in the center of the cooking pot. Depending on how deep your pot is, you can also place a ceramic coffee cup in its center.

Place a ceramic bowl on top of the small plate or coffee cup.

Put your pot on the stove.

Measure out and pour one cup of the fruit juice into a glass. Have a look at its color and take a small sip to taste it. Is it very sweet? How does the color look; is it very intense? Keep the rest of the juice for comparison at the end.

Pour an extra cup of colored fruit juice in the bottom of the pot. (Your small ceramic plate or ceramic coffee cup will now be standing in the juice.)

Together with your adult helper, turn on the stove to medium heat and bring the juice to a boil. It should be a moderate rather than a rolling boil. Can you see the steam developing once your juice starts boiling?

Now place the cover on the pot, upside down, so that the tip of the sloping lid is facing toward the bowl placed inside the pot. What happens to the steam once you close the lid?

Put ice in the cover of the pot. You might have to replace the ice in the lid as it melts. If you use a transparent lid, can you see droplets forming on the inward-facing side of the lid? Where do they come from and what happens to the droplets?

Allow the juice to boil for 20 to 30 minutes, making sure some juice always remains in the bottom of the pot. Do you see any changes in the amount of juice inside the pot?

After 20 to 30 minutes, turn the burner off. Allow the pot to cool for a few minutes.

Put on oven mitts and carefully remove the cover from the pot. What do you notice about the empty bowl that you placed under the lid?

Still wearing hot mitts, lift the bowl off the small ceramic plate or coffee cup and set it down on a heat-resistant surface.

Remove the small plate or coffee cup. Looking at the remaining juice in the pot, is there more or less juice left than the amount you poured in?

After it cools, pour the remaining juice from the pot into a glass. Did the juice change during boiling? What is different?

Pour the cooled distillate (the condensed steam), which is now the liquid inside the small bowl, into a glass. How does the distillate look?

Now take the glass from the beginning with the original juice, and place it next to the remaining juice and distillate. Compare their appearances. How do they differ? Did you expect these results? Why do you think the juice changed the way it did? How much fruit juice is left compared with what you poured into the pot?

Let the liquids cool to room temperature. Because you used clean kitchen utensils and edible fruit juice in this experiment, go ahead and take a sip of each of the solutions. How do the three different liquids compare in taste? Which one is the sweetest? Which one is the least sweet? How does the condensed steam taste? Why do you think is there a difference?

Finally, recombine the distillate and the remaining fruit juice by pouring the distillate into the remaining fruit juice. Do the volumes add up to what you put in at the beginning? How do the appearance and taste of this solution compare with the original fruit juice?

Extra: Repeat this activity with a salty solution, such as broth, instead of the sweet fruit juice. Do you think the results will be similar? What happens to the salt in the broth when you are boiling it?

Extra: Try to do this experiment again with household vinegar. Vinegar is a mixture of about 4 to 6 percent acetic acid and water. Can you separate these two liquids by distillation? How does your distillate taste in this case?

Extra: You might know that the boiling temperature of pure water is 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit) at normal atmospheric pressure. Adding a solute such as sugar, salt or other compounds to water will change the boiling point of the resulting solution. Try heating up your three liquids (original juice, distillate and remaining juice) and measure their boiling points with a thermometer. Are they very different? How does the boiling point change with increasing solute concentration?

Observations and results Juices are usually very sweet. This is because fruits contain a lot of fruit sugar, called fructose. More than 80 percent of most fruits, however, consist of water, so basically the apple or cranberry juice is a mixture of water and sugar. Once you reach the boiling point of the juice, it will start to evaporate and you will see steam coming out of the pot. If you close the pot with a lid, the steam rises up to the lid, and because the lid is much colder than the steam (especially after you put the ice on top), the vapor cools down rapidly and it condenses, becoming a liquid again that you can see in the form of droplets inside the lid. These droplets fall and are collected in the bowl that you have placed in the pot. As the juice boiled, you probably noticed that the amount of water in the bowl increased whereas the amount of juice in the pot decreased. This is because the steam, which was part of the juice, was collected in a separate container. If combined, the distillate and the remaining juice should add up to a similar volume of juice that you had in the beginning.

When you compared the three different solutions at the end (original juice, distillate and remaining juice), the first thing you probably saw was that the color of the remaining juice became much darker and the distillate had no color at all and looked like pure water. And it actually is pure water; it shouldn't have had any sweetness when you tasted it whereas the remaining juice should have tasted much sweeter than the original juice. The reason for this is that sugar is a nonvolatile compound, which means that when you boil any sugary liquid, the sugar will stay behind in the solution and not be transferred into a gaseous state. The water component of the mixture, however, starts to evaporate at about 100 degrees C, resulting in a steam consisting of pure water. Salt is also a nonvolatile substance and if you repeated the activity with broth, your distillate also should have been pure water. If you compared the boiling points of all three solutions at the end, you might have noticed that you can increase water’s boiling point by adding solutes—the higher the amount of solutes, the higher its boiling point will be.

Vinegar, on the other hand—or a mixture of 4 to 6 percent acetic acid and water—is not easily separable by distillation. This is because the boiling points of water (100 degrees C) and vinegar (about 100.6 degrees C) and are too close together to result in a full separation of both components. You should have noticed that the distillate still tasted like vinegar.

More to explore Distillation , from TutorVista How Oil Refining Works , from How Stuff Works Science Activity for All Ages! , from Science Buddies

This activity brought to you in partnership with Science Buddies

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Source: Andrii Zhezhera / shutterstock

Enriching distillation

By David Paterson 2017-11-09T11:27:00+00:00

How to develop your students’ distillation knowledge and practical skills

Source: petereleven / shutterstock.com

An alcohol distillery

The distillation of mixtures to separate and purify substances is an ancient technique, and one that underpins modern society. It produces alcoholic drinks and the fuels that power our vehicles , and even keeps medical scanners working. Distillation is found throughout industry.

The many uses of distillation provide a rich source of stories to frame teaching. For example, the water cycle is effectively a giant distillation cycle and can be linked into many stages of students’ education. Areas of the world without access to fresh water that need to produce potable water provide opportunities for discussing the social and environmental aspects of science.

Society heavily relies on refined products of crude oil, along with substances separated from air by fractional distillation , and this gives context for discussions of distillation’s economic aspects. Useful products from air include nitrogen, oxygen and the noble gases, which are used extensively in medicine, industry and research. For example, liquid nitrogen keeps stored biological samples cool while liquid helium keeps MRI scanners at a cold working temperature. Oxygen and argon blow in the basic oxygen steel-making process and krypton lasers produce microelectronics. Steam distillation is also used to purify compounds that are part of many consumer products, including fragrances and foods.

Framing the topic in relevant contemporary contexts helps students appreciate the applicability of a science education for all, not just for those seeking a scientific career.

Building on other concepts

Distillation combines two fundamental physical processes: evaporation and condensation. Students meet these ideas early on and they provide the foundation for progression to fractional distillation.

Progression of concepts related to distillation

Making links between physical state changes and the everyday experiences of students can help them bridge the conceptual divide between the macroscopic world and the abstract sub-microscopic and representational models we are trying to help them build. For example, evaporation can be distinguished from boiling by reference to the drying of puddles. The bathroom mirror after a hot shower is an everyday encounter with condensation. Additionally, the concept of purification can be consolidated using simple investigations, such as the ‘ Desert survival practical’ that challenges students to recover their last precious water spilled on the sand before they dehydrate.

The particulate nature of matter is a key idea students have to master to fully appreciate many aspects of chemistry, including distillation. Carefully used models can help students with misconceptions around the particle model (find out how to use models in chemistry teaching with an earlier article in this series: rsc.li/2xzDLGY.)

The particulate nature of matter is a key idea students have to master to fully appreciate many aspects of chemistry, including distillation. Carefully used models can help students with misconceptions around the particle model.

Students build a more comprehensive and integrated understanding of the subject, rather than a collection of isolated facts, by making links between concepts in chemistry. For example, one limitation of the particle model is the lack of consideration of forces between particles. This can be discussed in the context of the energetics of distillation, eg why different substances have different boiling points.

Find out how distillation fits into the National Curriculum, and GCSE and A-level specifications on the Education in Chemistry website: rsc.li/EiCdistillation.

Find out how distillation fits into the National Curriculum ( Word or pdf ), and GCSE ( Word or pdf ) and A-level ( Word or pdf ) specifications:

Developing practical skills

Distillation practicals require accurate observation, measurement and manipulative skills to set up and use the increasingly complex apparatus (find out how to develop your students’ observation skills with an earlier article in this series: rsc.li/2gMEM7v.)

Distillation practicals require accurate observation , measurement and manipulative skills to set up and use the increasingly complex apparatus.

Students aged 7–11 can be introduced to measuring temperature using both digital and analogue thermometers. A simple experiment looking at the three phases of water is a suitable activity, and can reinforce the difference between evaporation and boiling. In schools where practical work is limited by lack of equipment, a more Heath Robinson style could be used. For example, making a simple solar still to produce distilled water in the school grounds gives students a relevant context to consolidate their understanding.

At age 11–14, students can carry out simple distillation of copper sulfate solution using side arm boiling tubes, or conical flasks/boiling tubes with the delivery tube passed through a bung. The benefits of a coloured solution are the colourless distillate, and the deepening colour of the original solution as the solute becomes more concentrated.

Whether a liquid is pure could be investigated by measuring its boiling point, although the boiling point elevation tends to be small. A simple conductivity meter can demonstrate the relative purity of the distillate over the original solution. A demonstration of the elevation of boiling point may be better. A saturated sugar–water solution has a boiling point of around 110°C. Students will be able to see the boiling temperature more clearly from a digital thermometer or data-logger. This demonstration has the added benefit of showing the very high solubility of sugar. Sugar crystals can be produced from the resulting concentrated sugar solution, and this links to crystallisation as a separation technique.

While simple distillation is relatively straightforward to set up, reasonable results need patience from students. Some common issues have simple solutions:

Advanced practical distillation

More advanced learners, aged 14–16, can repeat simple distillation to consolidate understanding and skills, for example with a fluorescein solution, which becomes more vividly green as the colourless water distils off. Simple fractional distillation  can be carried out using synthetic crude oil. A fractionating column is not needed as the various components have sufficiently different boiling points (>25°C between the boiling point of each fraction). Equally, classes can distill limonene from orange peel [doc], or other fragrant compounds [pdf].

As schools are unlikely to have sufficient kit or the desire for under-16s to handle Quickfit glassware, demonstrate distillation using a Liebig condenser instead . Fractional distillation of synthetic crude oil with a fractionating column could also be shown as part of a general discussion about different methods for achieving similar outcomes.

Source: Royal Society of Chemistry. Image 4 © ymgerman / Shutterstock.com

Different methods of separating crude oil: 1. normal boiling tube with angled delivery tube; 2. side arm boiling tube; 3. fractionating column; 4. industrial fractionation

Download slides containing these images of three methods of separating crude oil for use in your classroom: rsc.li/EiCdistillation

Distillation methods

Download slides containing these images of three methods of separating crude oil for use in your classroom ( ppt or pdf ).

At 16–18 years old, students are expected to carry out a simple distillation with QuickFit apparatus. This is usually in the context of purifying products or intermediates in organic synthesis. If the equipment is available, students could also use a fractionating column with a simple mixture, eg propan-1-ol (bp 97°C) and 2-methyl-propan-1-ol (bp 108°C). Additionally, students should have the opportunity to use heating mantles if available. At undergraduate level, aluminium heating blocks (eg DrySyn blocks) on hot plates are the most common heating method. Nowadays, oil baths are rarely used.

A suggested teaching sequence for carrying out Quickfit distillation with ages 16–18 (HW: homework. CW: classwork)

Many of the ideas in this article will also be useful for other separation techniques, such as evaporation, crystallisation and filtration, which will be covered in a later article in this series.

Download a list of distillation teaching resources, including experiments, demonstrations, videos and animations from the Education in Chemistry website: rsc.li/EiCdistillation

David Paterson is a chemistry teacher at Aldenham Schoo l, Elstree

Teaching resources

Download a list of distillation teaching resources, including experiments, demonstrations, videos and animations ( Word or pdf ).

Distillation national curriculum links

Distillation gcse specification links, distillation a-level specification links, distillation teaching resources, distillation practical images.

• Developing teaching practice
• Specification links

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As taught in, learning resource types, chemistry laboratory techniques, purification of liquids by distillation, 4.1 - competent chemist rating.

“How Did the Peach Get Inside the Banana?”

Techniques Checklist

• Setting up distillation glassware correctly
• Performing atmospheric pressure distillations
• Using Gas Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry GC-MS to analyze samples

Pre-lab Discussion

• Theory of distillation—Reading: Zubrick chapter 34, LLP chapter 11.3, Mohrig chapter 13
• Distillation glassware and how to set it up—Reading: Zubrick chapter 19
• Use of the GC—Reading: Zubrick chapter 30, GC-MS- Mohrig chapter 19

Digital Lab Techniques Manual

• Video 11, Using a balance
• Video 15, Distillation I
• 25-mL & 50-mL round-bottomed flask with stir bar
• 3 Scintillation Vials or flasks that fit short path
• Distillation Kits (distillation head)
• Ground glass Thermometer and adapter
• Glass wool and aluminum foil (optional)
• Heating mantle w/sand
• To purify a mixture of two liquids using distillation.

Experiment Outline

• You will receive a vial containing 11.20 g of a mixture of two compounds whose boiling points differ by about 40 °C (See possible compounds below).
• Analyze the mixture using the GC— see GC Sample Preparation and GC Operation Guides .
• Perform atmospheric pressure distillation— see Distillation Guide .
• Prepare a GC sample of your purified, low-boiling fraction.
• Obtain a mass spectrum and a gas chromatogram of your purified low-boiling compound.

Helpful Hints

• Make sure all your joints are lightly greased and sealed well. Otherwise, you will lose your product into the atmosphere.
• Do not heat your mixture too fast, or your entire sample may end up in your collection flask.
• Insulate your distillation head with cotton and foil to increase the rate of distillation.
• Be aware that the temperature reading on the thermometer may not correlate accurately with the boiling point of the distilling liquid.
• To obtain your “CC Rating” in Purification of Liquids by Distillation, you must obtain at least 7.00 g of the low-boiling material that is 92% pure or better, as determined using GC analysis. You must also correctly identify the two components of your mixture. Think boiling points and smell.

4.2 - Expert Experimentalist Rating

“What’s With Those High-Altitude Recipes Anyway?”

• Glassware setup for reduced pressure distillation
• Running reduced pressure distillation
• Differences between atmospheric pressure and reduced pressure distillation
• Video 16, Distillation II
• 25-mL Round-bottomed flask
• 3x10-mL Pear-shaped flasks
• Vigreux column-Vacuum Distillation Kits
• Short path distillation head
• Ground glass Thermometer and cow adapter
• Glass wool and aluminum foil
• Heating Mantle (w/sand) and Variac
• To purify a mixture of two liquids by reduced pressure distillation.
• You will receive a vial containing 7.50g of a mixture of alpha-ionone and octadecane. Repeat procedure for CC level distillation but using a Vigreux column and the vacuum line— see Distillation Guide .

• To obtain your “EE Rating” in Purification of Liquids by Distillation you must predict the boiling points of the compounds in your mixture at 0.5 torr. You must also obtain at least 4.00 g of alpha-ionone that is 93% pure or better as determined using GC analysis.

The picture below is a nomograph . using it and a ruler, you can determine at what temperature a liquid will boil under vacuum.

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Distillation of Water

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Introduction: (Initial Observation)

Distillation of water is the only practical way of making pure water. During distillation, pure water vaporizes; water vapors raise and enter a separate container, where it condenses and liquefy. This is almost what is happening every day naturally. Water from oceans, rivers and plants evaporate and form clouds that are nothing but water vapor. When the clouds get to a colder area, they condense and fall in the form of rain.

So rain is supposed to be distilled water and often it is, but in many areas in the world specially cities, rain will absorb a lot of pollutants from the air and by the time that it gets to the ground, it is not pure water any more.

Water distillation can be done using laboratory glassware or distillation machines, but for this project we try to assemble a distillation apparatus by material and equipment that we can find at home. Then we try to distill different aqueous liquids in order to extract pure water from them.

This project guide contains information that you need in order to start your project. If you have any questions or need more support about this project, click on the “Ask Question” button on the top of this page to send me a message.

If you are new in doing science project, click on “How to Start” in the main page. There you will find helpful links that describe different types of science projects, scientific method, variables, hypothesis, graph, abstract and all other general basics that you need to know.

Project advisor

Information Gathering:

Find out about what you want to investigate. Read books, magazines or ask professionals who might know in order to learn about the effect or area of study. Keep track of where you got your information from.

Question/ Purpose:

What do you want to find out write a statement that describes what you want to do. use your observations and questions to write the statement..

The purpose of this project is understanding distillation and how it works. Using readily available materials, we separate a colorless liquid from a common colored solution by distillation. Higher grade students may need to study one specific question for their project. Most such questions aim to improve the rate of distillation or reduce the cost of the process. Following are two sample questions:

• How does the type of impurity affect the process of purification?
• How does the temperature of condenser affect the rate of distillation?

Identify Variables:

When you think you know what variables may be involved, think about ways to change one at a time. if you change more than one at a time, you will not know what variable is causing your observation. sometimes variables are linked and work together to cause something. at first, try to choose variables that you think act independently of each other., skip this section if you have not selected any specific question., this is how you define variables for the question 1:.

The independent variable (also known as manipulated variable) is the type of impurity (or the type of water solution). Possible values are: Cranberry juice, coke, any other soda drink.Independent variables (also known as responding variables) are the color of the distillate and the taste of the distillate. Constants are the amount of test liquids, the type and the size of distillation apparatus. (So all experiments must be performed with the same or identical distillation devices).

This is how you define variables for the question 2:

The independent variable (also known as manipulated variable) is the temperature of the condenser. Possible values are cold, natural, hot.The dependent variables (also known as responding variable) is the rate of distillation. The rate of distillation is the amount of distilled water produced per hour.Constants are heat source, the amount of test liquids, the type and the size of distillation apparatus. (So all experiments must be performed with the same or identical distillation devices).

Hypothesis:

Based on your gathered information, make an educated guess about what types of things affect the system you are working with. identifying variables is necessary before you can make a hypothesis., this is a sample hypothesis for question 1:.

My hypothesis is that if the water contains inorganic impurities such as salts, distillation will produce pure water (with no color and no taste), but if impurities are other liquids and organic compounds and solvents and almost everything that has odor, such material also may evaporate and mix with our distilled water.

This is a sample hypothesis for question 2:

My hypothesis is the rate of distillation will be higher with a colder condensor.

Experiment 1:   Simple distillation

Assemble a simple distillation apparatus using a soda can and aluminum foil in place of traditional glassware.

Rinse the soda can clean. Add the solution to be distilled until the can is l/3 to l/2 full. Drop a few pennies or small glass balls in the can to prevent explosive boiling reaction.Mount the soda can above the burner on a wire screen supported by an iron ring (attached to the ring stand). Mount the second iron ring around and near the top of the can to prevent it from tipping over. Insert the smaller glass jar into the larger one and surround liberally with an Ice-rich slush bath. Prepare an air-cooled condenser made of aluminum foil. This is best done by wrapping the foil lengthwise around a dowel rod or broom handle, taking care to seal the seam that runs the length of the foil tube by making several folds of foil neatly pressed back on itself. (Failure to do this will result in. poor efficiency during distillation.) Fit one end of the condenser into the opening at the top of the soda can. Gently bend the other end down and Insert it into the smaller glass jar which serves as a receiver flask for the distillation. Heat the soda can and its contents with a steady flame. As the solution boils, some vapor can be seen escaping from around the mouth of the can. Still, enough vapor makes its way through the air-cooled condenser so that condensation soon occurs In the chilled receiver flask.

For better sealing of the condenser tube, use one of the following procedures. The aluminum foil at the mouth of the can may be sealed with masking tape. Alternately, the condenser tube can be fitted carefully Into corks or stoppers at the mouths of the can and the collection bottle; however, the system should not be completely sealed.

If alcohol burners are used, they should be filled when cold, only by an adult. Adding common salt to the wick of burner makes it easier for you to see the flame and thus avoid possible burns. The aluminum foil condenser becomes quite hot during the distillation. Care should be taken to avoid touching it during collection of the distillate. Goggles must be worn throughout the experiment.

Samples and Pictures:

The small cup is placed on the top of a brick or ceramic pot to remain relatively cooler.

Experiment 2:  Effect of impurity type on the color and taste of the distillate  (This experiment is for testing the hypothesis 1)

Procedure: Use any form of distillation set that is available to you and repeat the distillation process with different aqueous (water based) liquids. Such liquids may include Cranberry juice, sea water, coke, any other soda drink, 1% vinegar. All the following conditions must be identical (constant) in the experiments you repeat.

• The distillation time  (Example: 1 hour)
• The amount of heat
• The amount of liquid  (Example: 500 ml or 1000 ml)
• The size and design features of the distillation apparatus. 

Measure and record the amount, the color and the taste of the distillate. Your results table may look like this:

Materials and Equipment:

• crushed ice
• solution to be distilled–cranberry or apple juice, coke, orange soda, or colored aqueous solution
• empty soda can–Pepsi, 7-Up, etc.
• 4 to 8-oz clear glass jar with narrow opening at top larger jar or other container to hold jar above 4-In x 12-in piece of aluminum foil
• Bunsen or alcohol burner
• iron rings wire screen

Results of Experiment (Observation):

Experiments are often done in series. A series of experiments can be done by changing one variable a different amount each time. A series of experiments is made up of separate experimental “runs.” During each run you make a measurement of how much the variable affected the system under study. For each run, a different amount of change in the variable is used. This produces a different amount of response in the system. You measure this response, or record data, in a table for this purpose. This is considered “raw data” since it has not been processed or interpreted yet. When raw data gets processed mathematically, for example, it becomes results.

Calculations:

Description

Summery of Results:

Summarize what happened. This can be in the form of a table of processed numerical data, or graphs. It could also be a written statement of what occurred during experiments.

It is from calculations using recorded data that tables and graphs are made. Studying tables and graphs, we can see trends that tell us how different variables cause our observations. Based on these trends, we can draw conclusions about the system under study. These conclusions help us confirm or deny our original hypothesis. Often, mathematical equations can be made from graphs. These equations allow us to predict how a change will affect the system without the need to do additional experiments. Advanced levels of experimental science rely heavily on graphical and mathematical analysis of data. At this level, science becomes even more interesting and powerful.

Conclusion:

Using the trends in your experimental data and your experimental observations, try to answer your original questions. Is your hypothesis correct? Now is the time to pull together what happened, and assess the experiments you did.

DISCUSSION Review the processes of evaporation and condensation. Think about the principles which allow distillation to be used as an effective purification tool (i.e., contaminants must be non-volatile). Be sure to compare the color of the starting material with that of the distillate.

Related Questions & Answers:

What you have learned may allow you to answer other questions. Many questions are related. Several new questions may have occurred to you while doing experiments. You may now be able to understand or verify things that you discovered when gathering information for the project. Questions lead to more questions, which lead to additional hypothesis that need to be tested.

Possible Errors:

If you did not observe anything different than what happened with your control, the variable you changed may not affect the system you are investigating. If you did not observe a consistent, reproducible trend in your series of experimental runs there may be experimental errors affecting your results. The first thing to check is how you are making your measurements. Is the measurement method questionable or unreliable? Maybe you are reading a scale incorrectly, or maybe the measuring instrument is working erratically.

If you determine that experimental errors are influencing your results, carefully rethink the design of your experiments. Review each step of the procedure to find sources of potential errors. If possible, have a scientist review the procedure with you. Sometimes the designer of an experiment can miss the obvious.

References:

Following are some online references:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distillation

http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/distil/distil0.htm

https://scienceproject.com/projects/detail/elementary/EX048.asp

It is always important for students, parents and teachers to know a good source for science related equipment and supplies they need for their science activities. Please note that many online stores for science supplies are managed by MiniScience.

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Science Project

Distillation Experiment: Distilling Water at Home (Minimal Materials)

Introduction: Distillation Experiment: Distilling Water at Home (Minimal Materials)

***Students, do not use a stove without your parents permission/supervision.***

In Grade 7, students learn about pure substances and mixtures. They learn about the particle theory of matter and how it explains the properties of these pure substances and mixtures. In particular, we learn about solutions. A solution is a mixture made up of parts with very similar properties and characteristics. Salt water, coffee, alloy metals are all solutions. The parts of a solution are very difficult to separate. Though not impossible!

We begin to learn about different types of filtration that can be used to separate solutions. The most common strategies involve making the solute or solvent change state. (ie. changing the solute from a solid to a liquid)

In this experiment students will learn about the filtration process of distillation. This experiment is designed for my students to do at home with as little materials as possible. There are some much better water distilling Instructables available, such as this one created by erbst . This instructbable is intended to be as simple as possible.

• 1 cup of water
• 1 Tablespoons of fine table salt
• One metal pot and lid
• One spatula (recommended)
• One water glass

Step 1: Create a Salt Water Solution

Fill a glass with 1 cup of water. Then add one table spoon of salt. To make a proper solution you should stir until the salt as been absorbed and is no longer visible. Give it a taste! Just make sure there is a sink nearby!

Step 2: Add to Pot and Boil

Add your salt water solution to a pot (I chose a large pot with a large surface area) with a lid. Close the lid. On high heat bring the water to a boil. Let your water boil, you should see some steam escaping, let it continue to boil for a minute or two. Then reduce the heat to low.

Step 3: Lift the Lid

**Be careful! The pot will be hot! If your pot has an exposed metal handle use over mitts or a tea towel**

Carefully lift the lid and turn it over in one smooth motion. You should see many water droplets have formed on the lid of the pot.

Step 4: Pour Water Into a Cup

Bring your lid over to a new glass. With a spatula, wipe the water droplets into the cup.

You may not get enough water on your first try. If not, return the lid to the pot and reheat. Repeat these steps until you have collected enough water to drink.

Step 5: Bottom's Up!

Enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Take a drink of the water you have collected, distilled rather!

What do you notice? How has the salt water solution separated?

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Computer Science > Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

Title: dkdm: data-free knowledge distillation for diffusion models with any architecture.

Abstract: Diffusion models (DMs) have demonstrated exceptional generative capabilities across various areas, while they are hindered by slow inference speeds and high computational demands during deployment. The most common way to accelerate DMs involves reducing the number of denoising steps during generation, achieved through faster sampling solvers or knowledge distillation (KD). In contrast to prior approaches, we propose a novel method that transfers the capability of large pretrained DMs to faster architectures. Specifically, we employ KD in a distinct manner to compress DMs by distilling their generative ability into more rapid variants. Furthermore, considering that the source data is either unaccessible or too enormous to store for current generative models, we introduce a new paradigm for their distillation without source data, termed Data-Free Knowledge Distillation for Diffusion Models (DKDM). Generally, our established DKDM framework comprises two main components: 1) a DKDM objective that uses synthetic denoising data produced by pretrained DMs to optimize faster DMs without source data, and 2) a dynamic iterative distillation method that flexibly organizes the synthesis of denoising data, preventing it from slowing down the optimization process as the generation is slow. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at using KD to distill DMs into any architecture in a data-free manner. Importantly, our DKDM is orthogonal to most existing acceleration methods, such as denoising step reduction, quantization and pruning. Experiments show that our DKDM is capable of deriving 2x faster DMs with performance remaining on par with the baseline. Notably, our DKDM enables pretrained DMs to function as "datasets" for training new DMs.

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