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Chemistry LibreTexts

5: Distillation

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Distillation is a purification method for liquids, and can separate components of a mixture if they have significantly different boiling points. In a distillation, a liquid is boiled in the "distilling flask," then the vapors travel to another section of the apparatus where they come into contact with a cool surface. The vapors condense on this cool surface, and the condensed liquid (called the "distillate") drips into a reservoir separated from the original liquid. In the simplest terms, a distillation involves boiling a liquid, then condensing the gas and collecting the liquid elsewhere


This page titled 5: Distillation is shared under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lisa Nichols via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.

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