New
New
Year 10
Edexcel
Higher

Distillation: separating a mixture of inks

I can describe how to successfully separate the components of ink.

New
New
Year 10
Edexcel
Higher

Distillation: separating a mixture of inks

I can describe how to successfully separate the components of ink.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Appropriate equipment should be used to separate substances in a mixture of inks.
  2. Inks are a mixture of substances that can be separated using distillation.
  3. Care should be taken when heating substances to their boiling points.
  4. Simple distillation completed in the school lab has limitations.

Common misconception

Heating a mixture strongly will cause distillation to occur more quickly.

Heating a mixture strongly could cause multiple components to enter a condenser (or delivery tube), resulting in a contaminated distillate. Careful, gentle heating of the mixture to ensure no bubbles near the condenser will reduce contamination.

Keywords

  • Component - a part of something, e.g. a tyre on a car

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

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

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

  • Distillate - the liquid that is condensed from the gas state during distillation

Equipment

Per group: conical flask, delivery tube, test tube, ice, beaker, inky water sample, heatproof mat, Bunsen burner, tripod, gauze

Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which process occurs when a substance changes from the gas state to the liquid state?
evaporation
freezing
Correct answer: condensation
melting
Q2.
What happens to the boiling point of water when salt is added?
it is lowered
Correct answer: it is raised
it stays the same and is exactly 100°C
Correct answer: it boils across a range of temperatures, e.g. 100 - 104°C
Q3.
Distillation is a technique that can separate liquids from each other.
Correct Answer: soluble, miscible
Q4.
Distillation relies upon substances in a mixture having different points.
Correct Answer: boiling
Q5.
When heated, which substance listed in the table below would boil first?
An image in a quiz
pentane
pentene
butane
Correct answer: butylene
Q6.
Put the statements into the correct order to describe how distillation occurs.
1 - a liquid mixture is heated
2 - the component with the lowest boiling point changes to the gas state
3 - the component in the gas state is collected and moved towards another container
4 - the component in the gas state cools and condenses into its liquid state

6 Questions

Q1.
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?
filter
Correct answer: distillation
chromatography
crystallisation
Q2.
is a technique used to separate water from an water-soluble ink solution.
Correct Answer: Distillation, Distilling
Q3.
The component collected at the end of distillation is known as the ...
filtrate.
residue.
mixture.
Correct answer: distillate.
Q4.
The equipment needed for distillation is lettered on the diagram below. Match each letter to the correct label.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer:a,mixture

mixture

Correct Answer:b,thermometer

thermometer

Correct Answer:c,condenser

condenser

Correct Answer:d,distillate

distillate

Q5.
What are the limitations of using a simple setup (as shown below) for distillation?
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: it is difficult to monitor boiling points as there is no thermometer
it is difficult to heat consistently
Correct answer: condensing occurs at the very end, often leading to loss of gaseous component
Correct answer: condensing occurs at the very end, which could be a safety hazard
Q6.
Some students used the distillation set-up shown. Collection of the distillate could be improved by ...
An image in a quiz
Correct answer: placing a cold towel around the delivery tube.
heating the mixture more strongly.
Correct answer: placing the test tube into an ice bath.
adding a thermometer.