Title: Simple and Fractional Distillation

Class Section: CHML-303-Monday

Name: Wail Al-waili
Partner: Kedie
Date Submitted: 04/08/2019

Table of Physical Constants:

Substances Chemical Molecular Melting Point Boiling Point
Formula Weight
Water H2O 18.02 g/mol 0℃ 100 ℃
Methanol CH3OH 32.04 g/mol -97.6 ℃ 64.7 ℃

References:
1. Microscale and Miniscale Organic Chemistry Laboratory Experiments by Allen M.
Schofstall, Barbara. A. Gaddis, & Melvin L. Druelinger: Second Edition

Experimental Procedure/Methods:
Begin by setting up the simple and fractional distillation apparatuses. Take a 50.0-mL
round bottom flask and add 30.0-mL of unknown #2 in it. Heat the flask and collect the distillate
at a rate of 1 – 2 drops per second. Note the temperature for every 1-mL of distillate collected.
Finally, use a graph to determine the compositions of methanol and water.

Results of Unknown #2:

Volume of Distillation (mL) Temperature of Simple Temperature of Fractional
Distillation (℃) Distillation (℃)
1.0 65. 61.
2.0 66. 61.
3.0 66. 63.
4.0 66. 64.
5.0 67. 64.
6.0 67. 64.
7.0 67. 64.
 8.0 67. 64.
9.0 67. 64.
10.0 67. 64.
11.0 67. 64.
12.0 67. 64.
13.0 68. 64.
14.0 68. 64.
15.0 68. 65.
16.0 68. 65.
17.0 69. 65.
18.0 69. 65.
19.0 70. 65.
20.0 70. 65.
21.0 71. 65.
22.0 72. 65.
23.0 73. 84.
24.0 76. 93.

Percentage Composition of Methanol in Water During Fractional Distillation:

% Recovery = (mL methanol) / (mL of total composition) X 100%

(22.0 mL / 30.0 mL) X 100% = 73.3 % of MeOH in water

Observation:
➢ Unlike the simple distillation apparatus, the fractional distillation contained a fractional
column
➢ When boiling, the mixture gradually vaporizes into a gaseous state then condenses into a
liquid state

➢ When concealing the fractional column with a paper towel during distillation, the
temperature of distillation jumped from 65 ℃ to 84 ℃ and continues to increase until
reaching the boiling point of water.

➢ After the apparatus collected the methanol at 22.0 mL, it continued the extraction of the
remaining liquid, water.
 Discussion:
Distillation is an experimental method used to purify liquids. During this method, a
mixture is heated to the point of vaporization, then condensed down and collected. The liquid
collected is called the distillate. Because substances have different boiling points, they evaporate
at different times. With simple distillation, the desired boiling point of a liquid must be vastly
different than any other substance in the mixture. The substance with the lower boiling point will
vaporize faster than the other substance, allowing it to be collected first. The vaporized substance
will rise through the distillation head and condense as it moves down the condenser and into the
collecting container.

Fractional distillation is a better choice when the substances have boiling points that are
closer together. In this method, a fractionating column is added to the apparatus. The vapor
moves through this tube before it reaches the distillation head. It is filled with glass beads to
increase surface area. This causes the vapor to condense and re-vaporize many times before it
reaches the top of the column, making the overall boiling point reading more accurate than
simple distillation.

In the graph, the line of the simple distillation increased more steadily than the fractional
distillation line. The fractional distillation had a drastic increase from the volume of 22.0-mL to
30.0-mL. This indicates that the methanol had all been completely evaporated and the remaining
water had to heat up more to reach its boiling point. The simple distillation did not have a clear
gap in the graph, proving analysis of the boiling point of both liquids in the mixture difficult.

Conclusion:
Our goal for this experiment was for us to learn the important separation methods of
simple distillation and fractional distillation. These methods separate miscible liquids by utilizing
their differences in boiling point. Simple distillation is great for separating liquids with very
large differences in boiling points while fractional distillation is better at separating liquids with
closer boiling points.