What process separates substances by evaporating a liquid and condensing its vapor?

What process separates substances by evaporating a liquid and condensing its vapor?

• A. Distillation
• B. Filtration
• C. Chromatography
• D. Evaporation

Answer: (A)

Distillation relies on differences in boiling points to separate components. By heating a mixture, the more volatile component boils into vapor, which is then cooled and condensed back into a separate container. This transfer of vapor separates the substances because they vaporize at different temperatures, letting you collect one component while the rest stay behind. Filtration separates solids from liquids based on particle size, chromatography separates components by how they interact with a stationary phase, and evaporation alone removes solvent but doesn’t recondense and move a component to a new location, so it doesn’t accomplish the same separation.

Distillation relies on differences in boiling points to separate components. By heating a mixture, the more volatile component boils into vapor, which is then cooled and condensed back into a separate container. This transfer of vapor separates the substances because they vaporize at different temperatures, letting you collect one component while the rest stay behind. Filtration separates solids from liquids based on particle size, chromatography separates components by how they interact with a stationary phase, and evaporation alone removes solvent but doesn’t recondense and move a component to a new location, so it doesn’t accomplish the same separation.