a part of something, e.g. a tyre on a car

a separation technique that uses boiling and condensation to remove and isolate a liquid component of a mixture

a thin tube used to transfer (i.e. "deliver") a substance (usually in the gas state) from one container to another

a piece of apparatus composed of a tube surrounded by a cold layer, usually cold water

the liquid that is condensed from the gas state during distillation

Distillation: separating a mixture of inks

Combined science

In the Making Salts unit, pupils will build on their understanding of separation techniques to learn about the process of making salts and writing balanced chemical equations.

In the Separation Techniques unit, pupils learned about various methods for separating mixtures, including filtration, evaporation, distillation, and chromatography.

Separating substances

Physical activity and equipment requiring safe use

Water soluble liquid ink is found to boil at 105°C-131°C, suggesting it is a mixture of different substances. How might we collect a sample of pure water?

{{}} is a technique used to separate water from an water-soluble ink solution.

The component collected at the end of distillation is known as the ...

The equipment needed for distillation is lettered on the diagram below. Match each letter to the correct label.

it is difficult to monitor boiling points as there is no thermometer

condensing occurs at the very end, often leading to loss of gaseous component

condensing occurs at the very end, which could be a safety hazard

What are the limitations of using a simple setup (as shown below) for distillation?

placing a cold towel around the delivery tube.

Some students used the distillation set-up shown. Collection of the distillate could be improved by ...

Which process occurs when a substance changes from the gas state to the liquid state?

it boils across a range of temperatures, e.g. 100 - 104°C

What happens to the boiling point of water when salt is added?

Distillation is a technique that can separate {{}} liquids from each other.

Distillation relies upon substances in a mixture having different {{}} points.

When heated, which substance listed in the table below would boil first? 

the component with the lowest boiling point changes to the gas state

the component in the gas state is collected and moved towards another container

the component in the gas state cools and condenses into its liquid state

Put the statements into the correct order to describe how distillation occurs.

Content guidance

Risk assessment required - equipment

Adult supervision required

Starter Quiz