Explain the principle of steam distillation.what type of compound can be purified by using this process?
Answers
Steam distillation removes contaminants from water to make it essentially inert. Laboratories and technicians use distilled water for this reason, as it doesn't add anything to the component being tested. Distilled water does not have any minerals in it, which makes it unsuitable for drinking, but good for aquariums, essential oil extraction, scientific experiments and more.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
The process of steam distillation separates the substances of a mixture through evaporation, which then involves condensing the vapor back into liquid, taking advantage of the fact that different elements or compounds have different boiling points. It has wide uses, from water purification to extracting oils from organic matter and refining crude oil.
Reasons for Steam Distillation
Traditional distillation techniques require direct heating of the mixture to evaporate its contents. While this works well for most inorganic solutions and a few organic ones, there are many organic compounds that decompose at high temperatures, including many natural essential oils and aromatic compounds. To ensure the needed organic compounds do not get destroyed during steam distillation, technicians distill these compounds at lower temperatures.
Vapor Pressure
Matter surface has high energy molecules in contact with the atmosphere, which exert a certain pressure against the atmosphere due to their internal energies, known as vapor pressure. If this pressure exceeds the atmospheric pressure, those molecules evaporate. Since heating increases the internal energy of those molecules, it also increases vapor pressure.