Simple Distillation

Title: Simple Distillation Purpose: This exercise aims to 1) familiarize the student/s with the distillation set-up, 2) help the student/s identify the uses of distillation, and 3) familiarize the student/s with the process and mechanisms of distillation. Experimental: If the set-up is different from the figure below, please change this with the set-up shown by your instructor by deleting the figure below and draw the right set-up. Also please label your set-up if you changed this thank you. lH2O gH2O (energy gain of 2.3 x 105 J) gH2O lH2O (energy loss of 2.3 x 105 J) Results: When the water began to boil with the use of a heating mantle, indicated by the presence of bubbles, the water level started to decrease. The originally 100 ml volume of water in the flask reduced gradually as it kept on boiling. The temperature at which water boils is hypothetically at 100oC. However, in the exercise, the temperature of the boiling water was not exactly at 100oC but the temperature almost reached that hypothetical temperature. There was a visible fogging in the flask, indicating the presence of vapor. The vapor could be traced and was traveling towards the next flask. The vapor, upon reaching the condensing unit of the set-up where cool water travels in and out of tubes placed around the tube where the vapor travels. When the vapor reached this portion of the set-up, the vapor or steam goes back to its liquid form and travels to the next flask where this flask is now settled on an ice bath. The water on the new flask is now cleaner than that of the original tap water. Discussion: Primarily, the flask of impure water was subjected to heat with the use of a heating mantle instead of a Bunsen burner. This is because with the use of a heating mantle, the temperature increase could be regulated while with the use of a Bunsen burner it would be difficult to regulate the release of heat. If the heat released could not be regulated, the apparatus may explode due to built up pressure on the flasks themselves, not only on the water being boiled. Then the tap water was placed with boiling stones before it was subjected to heat since boiling stones help in controlling th...