Fractional Distillation Experiment

Discussion For this experiment, a fractional distillation was used to separate the two different components, both liquids, that comprised the 30 mL mixture that was given. The liquid mixture was then heated to its desired boiling point to cause evaporation to occur. The vapor from the reaction was then condensed and the resulting liquid was placed into a test tube. If the experiment consisted of a mixture containing both liquids and solids, then simple distillation would have been used. A simple distillation could have been used for this experiment if a series of them had been performed.

The apparatus used during this experiment consisted of a distillation flask that contained the liquid and the liquid then was carried into the receiving flask. The distillation head held the thermometer in place and was connected to the condenser. The vacuum adapter took the condensation from the condenser and allowed the liquid to be placed into the test tube. The entire system was left open because if the system was closed, the heat and pressure would rise causing the glass to break. Keck clamps were used to

The graph helps determine the boiling point of both solvents within the mixture. Fraction A had a lower boiling point and Fraction C had the higher boiling point. Fraction B was the transition state between A and C. Since A’s boiling point was around 65 degrees Celsius this suggests that the solvent was Methanol. This is untrue because the system was heated too quickly, therefore the actual solvent was Toluene. The C fraction’s boiling point was approximately 105 degrees Celsius. This suggests that the second solvent was Toluene which was correct. This data cannot be used solely by itself to determine the unknown solvents because, as seen above, the system can be heated or cooled too much causing the solvents’ boiling point to be different than the actual true boiling