Fractional Distillation

In this worksheet, students will explore fractional distillation. Plastics, petrol, diesel, tar - the world would be a very different place without them. These are just a few of the chemicals produced from crude oil which needs fractional distillation to separate them.

Key stage: KS 3

Curriculum topic: Chemistry: Pure and Impure Substances

Curriculum subtopic: Separating Mixtures

Difficulty level:

---- OR ---- Preview Activity

Worksheet Overview

Fractional distillation can be used to separate a mixture of compounds with different boiling points such as crude oil or air.

Air is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide and some other gases. The composition of air is shown in the pie chart below.

Pie chart of gases of the air

To separate this mixture the air must be cooled to -200 ^oC, which turns it into a liquid. It is then warmed up slowly and each of the liquids boil off at a different temperature and can be collected and removed.

Distillation of liquid air

Fractional distillation can also be used to separate crude oil into the many compounds that it is made up of. This is very important as crude oil contains some very useful compounds such as petrol and diesel. The products of fractional distillation are shown in the diagram below:

Fractional distillation of crude oil

Use this activity to find out more about this method of separating mixtures of liquids.

---- OR ----

Preview activity

What is EdPlace?

We're your National Curriculum aligned online education content provider helping each child succeed in English, maths and science from year 1 to GCSE. With an EdPlace account you’ll be able to track and measure progress, helping each child achieve their best. We build confidence and attainment by personalising each child’s learning at a level that suits them.

Get started